Miserable at Best
by ryryxyu
Summary: "Little Red had snuck by Jace the Big Bad Wolf and left without a goodbye...well good for her, he would have never let her leave." One night, a virgin and a drunkard meet when the drunkard stumbles into a coffee shop that she works in. They begin to constantly cross paths and work their way into each other's lives while unraveling each other's hurts. Language x Lemonade
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Hey Red, why don't you flash us all something good?" The arrogant man in coffee shop hollered, he was clearly drunk. Clary tensed and continued to do her job, not responding to what the man was saying.

"Hey Clary, why don't you man the counter? I'll do the tables." Her co-worker Maia offered after hearing the man verbally harass Clary. It was safer for Maia to do the tables since her brother Daniel was a professional wrestler and taught her how to beat up any two hundred pound man that harassed her. Maia was dauntless, she could care less if she lost this job and wouldn't mind punching the living daylights out of the impudent guy. Clary on the other hand, needed it to pay off her tuition.

Muttering a thank you to her co-worker, she rushed to the counter and began taking orders. Working at Java Jones was not the college dream, but it was something since her art scholarship did not pay off everything. Clary let out a sigh after she finished brewing a chai tea latte to her last customer and letting out a chirpy, "Have a great day!"

"Frustrated?" The brash man that hollered at her earlier showed up again, this time leaning over the counter with a bottle of vodka. "I could take your stress away baby doll." He winked in his drunken stupor.

Scrunching up her nose at the sight of the man, she saw that he was actually quite beautiful minus the drunken demeanour and his foul mouth.

"No thank you sir, that's all right. Would you like to order something?" She asked nicely with a bright, fake smile.

"What I want isn't on the menu." He slurred out and took a swig from his bottle. Clary could see that he was in pain. He reminded her so much of her brother, who drank alcohol to the point where he was obliterated. Jonathan Morgenstern was dead because of alcohol and this man in front of her was doing the same thing Jon had done.

Clenching her eyes tight at this memory, she let out a sigh and told the man,

"I get off in an hour okay? I'm gonna help you get home."

The man in front of her let out a pained, obnoxious laugh and shouted venomously,

"Home? I have no home, home is where she is and she left."

"You have an apartment though, don't you?" Clary tried again, hopefully he had a place to stay.

"Of course!" He slurred, "Where do you think girls fuck me? Do you want to fuck me? I bet you do baby doll."

"No, I don't want to have sex with you sir, I just want to..." Clary trailed off and stopped, she didn't know what she wanted to do besides not let him end up like Jon. "Look I want to help you."

"The only way you can help me is if you bring her back to me, but we all know that isn't possible because she doesn't love me, she loves Sebastian fucking Verlac. That's why she spread her legs for him. So if you want to help me, you'll fuck me okay? You'll fuck me until I forget her." He explained with pained eyes and Clary saw that tears were welling in his eyes.

"Sit down okay? I'll be done in 54 minutes, you should get some food down your stomach. Put down the bottle okay?" She pleaded in a hushed voice.

"Okay Angel." And he dropped the bottle to the ground which caused everyone in the shop to turn at the sight of smashed vodka glass. He stepped on the glass with his combat boots and walked towards the table to where he was before, sitting patiently like a little boy waiting for his friend to come out and play.

Clary quickly ran to the back to retrieve the dust pan and broom to clean the mess. _This man was going to be the death of her_. She thought and took out a mop to clear the shop of the vodka stench. By the time she cleared the vodka mess, customers began leaving the shop and the time had ticked to 6:25 PM. Approximately forty minutes until her shift ends and then she could take Mr. Stranger to his home and help him get a shower and probably shave as well.

She turned her head to look at where he was, the stranger had passed out asleep on the table. His disheveled golden hair almost covered his eyes and a crease had formed between his brows. He looked like he was in pain and that...that was not beautiful.

Maia came back half an hour later to man the counters and told Clary that she better ask the man to leave since he was scaring the children that walked in with their parents and teenage girls were taking pictures of his sleeping form.

"Has he even bought anything?" Maia asked in a tone that sounded annoyed.

"I'll buy him something, I doubt he's had anything all day except alcohol." Clary stated and began undoing the strings on her black apron. "I'll get the carrot cake and a bottle of water for him. Ring me up okay? I'm going around to get him and I'll bring him home."

"Jesus Clary, you're way too nice. Do you even know his name? He could be a psychopath in disguise."

"My brother always told me that being nice won't kill you, and even if it does, at least you helped someone that needed it. That's all that matters." Clary reminisced and Maia scoffed and rung up her items.

"Need a paper bag hon?" Maia asked as Clary passed her a five dollar bill.

"Yeah, definitely. We're gonna leave, hopefully he can eat while he walks. God I hope he's not too passed out."

"Well good luck Clary." Maia smiled and handed her the carrot cake and water.

Clary breathed a breath of nervousness and proceeded to walk over to the man, lightly tapping his shoulder to wake him up,

"Hey, we can go back to your apartment now."

His eyes fluttered open, revealing his amber coloured orbs that would have lit up the room if he wasn't so unhappy.

"Is it you Angel? Are we gonna fuck now?"

"Yes it's me, my name's Clary and we're not going to have sex okay? I'm gonna bring you back to your apartment."

He chuckled lightly and stood up, wobbling a bit and shouted in the empty coffee shop,

"You guys hear that? I'm fucking an angel when we get back to my apartment. Jace Wayland is going fuck her hard until she screams my name, not Sebastian's."

Clary's jaw dropped at the sight of this man's bluntness and quickly placed her hand over his mouth before he could say anything else. She dragged him out of the restaurant and took away her hand.

"Jace, is it?" She asked to clarified.

"Yes Carrie." He slurred, getting her name wrong.

"It's Clary. Where do you live? We're gonna get you home and I'm gonna take care of you."

"Upper East Side baby doll." He laughed and swooped down to place his lips on hers. Quickly, she pushed him off and scolded him,

"No Jace, you can't just kiss me."

"You taste like candy Clary, is that what your pussy tastes like too?" He laughed again though what stopped his laughing was the connection of Clary's hand to his cheek.

"Don't talk about my parts like that!" She hissed, hoping no one heard, "I'm gonna hail a cab and you're gonna give the driver your address okay?" She ran her hands through her hair muttering prayers as she tried to hail a cab.

"You're shy aren't you Clary? Don't worry though, my walls are soundproof, no one will hear what we do or what you'll scream." Jace winked at her and placed his hand at the small of her back.

Clary ignored his last comment and finally managed to have a yellow cab stopped in front of them. She led Jace in and followed behind, fastening his seatbelt and then doing hers. Jace grinned and gave the driver his address, he then proceeded to graze his fingers along Clary's collar bone.

"You really nice skin." He commented and buried his head into her neck. The ride became silent until she felt something wet on her neck, only to find that Jace was crying.

"Jace, what's wrong?" Clary asked with concern used her thumb to wipe away his tears. She brushed his hair away from his eyes and looked straight into them, seeing hurt and sadness.

"Kaelie hates me, she lied to me when she said that she loves me and then ran off with Sebastian Verlac of all people–my best friend. He was my best friend and she was my fiancée." He cried and rested his head on Clary's heartbeat, "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

"No I don't think I would." Clary whispered and the cab stopped in front of the apartment. She dug into her pocket only to find a ten dollar bill and muttered a curse. Jace saw this and reached into his pocket and threw a one hundred dollar bill at the driver.

"Let's go baby doll. I'm in the penthouse." But before Jace could even get out of the taxi, bile rose in his throat and he threw up all over Clary's lap. The taxi driver looked behind and saw that none got on the floor or seats of the taxi and shrugged.

Groaning, she unfastened both their seat belts and rushed out of the car. Placing one of his arms around her shoulder, they entered the lobby of his apartment complex.

"Excuse me, do you happen to know where the elevator is?" She asked the clerk at the front desk who gave her a once over and looked to Jace. He pointed the corner and bid her luck.

By the time they made it to his penthouse, Clary was about to drop to her knees. Jace was still half asleep and muttering things about Kaelie and Sebastian. She reached into his pocket to find his car keys and the penthouse key. When Clary opened the door, she nearly dropped Jace from the awe of his penthouse.

It was huge and minimalistic and everything inside was what she couldn't afford. Clary assumed that Jace was the type of guy that any girl would be dying to be with, maybe he was actually nice and aware of his words when he was sober. _If _he ever was sober anyway.

She set him down on the couch while he groaned and she ran to find the bathroom. When Clary walked in, she found that his bathroom was practically the size of her small apartment. She shook her head and ran a hot bath for Jace and dumped most of his body wash to create bubbles.

When the tub was full, she ran back to the living room to get Jace only to find that he wasn't there.

"Jace? Jace? Where are you?"

"Do you want to share a drink with me Clary?" He slurred from the kitchen and she ran to the sound of his voice only to find a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

"NO! Jace! Put that down!" She yelled and grabbed from his hand. "Go take a bath!"

Jace let out a chuckle and said,

"You're sexy when you're mad and you want me naked." And he started stripping. Right. There. In. The. Kitchen.

"Oh my God." Clary huffed out and threw her hands in the air. By the time he finished fully stripping, she dragged him by the hand and pulled him towards the bathtub. "I thought you might like the bubbles, where's your razor?"

"You're not gonna kill me are you Clary?" He asked from the bathtub while throwing up the bubbles in the air.

She rolled her eyes and began scanning the cabinets,

"No, I'm not going to kill you Jace. I'm giving you a shave, so sit still okay?"

Kneeling beside the bathtub, she held Jace by his jaw and covered the bottom half of his face in shaving cream. She tried to avoid his lips as much as possible to prevent him from licking the cream but there was only so much she could do. Jace began flapping his arms against the water, causing water to splash everywhere.

"Jace! Hold still or it will cut you." Clary warned and clamped her hand around his arm. "Trust me, please?" She looked at him with desperation and it was as if he saw her. He held still and she began with swift, small strokes against his lower cheek then, to his chin, neck, and upper lip. She wiped the remaining cream off of his face and proceeded to the sink to clean the razor.

"I'm sorry Clary." He said out of nowhere while she was cleaning.

"Don't worry about it." She turned around, let out a small smile, and left the room. When she came back, Jace had a towel wrapped around his waist and water glistened against his body. Clary gave it a small glance and handed him some clothes. "I'm not sure what you sleep in so here. If you don't mind, I think I'm going to take a show–." Before she could finish her sentence, he cut her off with a desperate kiss. It was one that was yearning for something, one that was full of desire, and one that was urgent.

She found herself responding to it by wrapping her arms behind his neck and moving her lips against his. That is, until he began slipping his tongue into her mouth, she woke up and stopped, unwrapping her arms in the process and pushing him away.

"Go to bed Jace, trust me, you're tired. There's some carrot cake on the kitchen counter and a bottle of water. I'm sure you're hungry, but please stay away from the alcohol." Clary said out of breath and shoved him out the bathroom door.

Stripping out her soiled work pants and shirt, she hopped into the shower beside the bathtub and began scrubbing at the clothes and her body. The pressure of the shower nozzle was absolutely divine, but Clary knew that she had to take care of Jace first and that her pleasures came second.

After scrubbing clean the clothes, she hung the clothes and washed her hair quickly. She noticed that his shampoo smelled of lemons and honey while she was rinsing. Clary stepped out and wrapped a fluffy white towel around her. Opening the door, she checked if Jace was eating the cake and smiled at the sight of him perched on a high chair munching away. Quickly, she padded to his room to find extra shirts that were comfortable to sleep in. But all she could find was, Armani, Armani, Armani, Gucci, Tom Ford, and more Armani. Dropping her towel, she randomly grabbed a white Armani dress shirt that came up mid thigh.

"Well, that's pretty sexy." A voice came from the door while Clary was halfway finishing the buttons on the shirt.

Clary ignored that comment and finished buttoning the shirt before she turned around. She picked up the towel and walked towards him.

"Did you drink the water? You have to stay hydrated."

He only nodded and she pulled him to the bed,

"Go in Jace, I'll tuck you in." Jace complied, sliding into his white blankets. Clary pulled the blanket up to his neck and turned to leave, but he pulled on her arm and said with a clear voice; almost sober,

"Can you stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone." His voice was full of desperation and tiredness.

Clary clenched her eyes tight and shook her head,

"I'll be on the sofa if you need me Jace, go to sleep, you need the rest." And she pulled away leaving Jace alone for the night.

* * *

**Author's Note: Guess who is somewhat back? This girl! So **_**How to Love in 20 Days, **_**I honestly cannot finish that story guys, I am sorry. It just had no ending really, it wasn't something I planned or even really liked. I am so glad that you guys have stuck with me though throughout so please try not to be angry. This is a new story and it's something I really want to work on. Lots of character development because it's simply a love story. There was probably a lot of mistakes pertaining to grammar and sentence fluency, but I was way too lazy to reread it.**

**Hope you guys enjoy! Shoot me a review! **

–ryryxyu


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my home?!" A voice boomed that caused Clary to awaken. Squinting through her eyes, she made out a golden body that glowed.

"Jace? Are you up?" She asked while rubbing her eyes, the afghan that was on the sofa was not warm at all, leaving her to shiver in the cold all night.

"Hell yes I am up and who are you from and how did you get in here? I don't remember bringing you here from the club and fucking you." Jace spat out, it was as if fumes were coming out of his head and he was about to explode any second.

"Holy crap, calm down. I'm Clary, seeing as you were too drunk to remember. I brought you in after you came into my workplace drunk and you had no one to take you home. Oh, and you threw up on me thank you very much so no, I would not have sex with you." Clary let out angrily and stormed to the washroom to retrieve her now dried work clothes. She put on the pants but left on his shirt seeing as her work shirt and bra were still damp.

Jace had no recollection of this girl, and God did she frustrate him. He wanted to down himself in bourbon right now and forget. He padded to pantry and picked up a bottle of bourbon and a can of coke. He began mixing the drink just as Clary came out, flustered and angry, until she saw what Jace doing, she quickly ran over and knocked over the drink.

"What the hell! What the fuck! Who the hell do you think you are?!" He yelled and this caused Clary to shrink back. She furrowed her brows and began picking up the glass. Though, the last shard she picked up and slit her hand. Blood began to drip on the kitchen but she continued to pick up the glass.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to help you." She found the mop and cleaned up the floor.

"I'll be on my way." She said and began walking to the door.

_She is crazy, she is fucking crazy. Who the hell picks up glass like that? _Jace thought,

"I'm sorry." He blurted and caught her wrist before she could leave, "Y'know for throwing up on you and yelling at you. I'm just…" He paused for the right word but all he could say was, "Stressed. I'm sorry, that's no way to yell at a lady that I clearly invited into my home."

"I sort of have to get to work anyway. Don't drink, Jace." She pleaded timidly and began towards the door again but this time Jace blocked her way.

"Your hand is bloody, I'll fix it before you leave and that's Armani you're wearing." He added jokingly at the end. She looked up at him with doe like eyes and then looked down at her hand.

"I'll just rinse it off when I get home, it's really nothing. I've dealt with worse." Clary let out a shy smile and tried to past him.

"I'm studying med, so I better have a practice patient right?" He smirked, usually when he gave this smirk, girls would literally hand over their panties.

Clary didn't even flinch when he did though, she only retorted with,

"If you're studying med, then shouldn't you know that consuming mass amounts of alcohol can kill you because your liver can't process all that alcohol fast enough? Look, I don't know where your friends are or where your family is, but I need to make a living to pay off my undergrad and my rent because clearly all of this," She waved to his penthouse, "isn't what you earned."

"I need a friend." He blurted out, "I don't have family, this is just from their will. They died a few years ago. It's inheritance. I don't have friends, I sort of pushed them away after...some events." Jace didn't want to talk about Kaelie and Sebastian, it still hurt...a lot.

Scanning him up to down, Jace had those eyes of desperation again–the same ones from last night that showed that he was hurt; upset. She sighed in defeat and said,

"Come on, let's go to the bathroom."

"Why?" He asked perplexed.

"You want to fix my hand yeah?" She clarified rinsing her hand under the water and made a pained face when the water stung her cut. "Oh God that hurts!" She hissed out and took her hand out under the tap.

Jace chuckled at her reaction,

"Well, I'm sorry to say but the antiseptic is going to hurt even more." He held up the alcohol wipe and Clary's eyes nearly went to the back of her head at the sight of it.

"Oh my God! Just do it already!" Clary covered her eyes with her unharmed hand and scrunched her face in pain as Jace dabbed it on her wound. By the time Jace finished wrapping her hand, her eyes were still clenched. He chuckled in amusement and drew her hand away from her face.

"Baby doll, it's over. I'm done." Jace gave her a smile and she opened her eyes to look at her bandaged hand.

"Oh! Thank you!" She piped and awkwardly stood there. _God Clary, just leave, don't expect him to kiss you again, that will never happen again. _She thought and broke the silence again, "Well I should go. I think my shirt is dry now, so if you don't mind, I'd like to change."

"Yeah, I don't mind." He replied but Jace just stood there.

"Um, can you turn around?" Clary asked meekly and he complied. When she finished unbuttoning, Jace turned his head and peeked with eyebrows raised and a grin.

_No bra? Huh. 32C, didn't expect that. _He mused inside his head and turned back to where he should have been. _Great, now I'm hard. _But by the time that thought had finished, he heard feet padding in the hallway and the click of a door.

Little Red had snuck by Jace the Big Bad Wolf and left without a goodbye...well good for her, he would have never let her leave.

Jace was left alone again, just like he was last night. Except, he dreamt of a redheaded angel last night, one that he made love to and not just fucking to forget..._them. _Soon, he remembered the events that transpired last night: the idiotic things he had yelled in the coffee shop, how he threw up all over her, the kiss, and the way he cried about _them. _Jace buried his face into his hands in embarrassment but the thing was, that she stayed through the whole night and listened to him. That's all Jace Wayland ever really wanted.

He looked to the counter and found the Armani collared shirt she was wearing earlier, he brought the shirt to nose and inhaled it.

It smelt like his favourite candy.

* * *

"Did you even go home last night?" Maia asked as Clary dragged her feet behind the counter; clearly tired.

"No, I didn't." Clary said and tied her apron. _Good thing it was only a four shift today, then I can go home and bloody sleep. _She thought dreamily of her bed waiting for her.

"Well clearly, you don't have that glow to you where it says, 'I just got laid!' like seriously Clary, if he wasn't drunk off his ass, I'd probably bang him." Maia admitted without embarrassment. This caused Clary to flush a dark red. Clary wasn't the type that was comfortable talking about sex or love life in general; she hated to kiss and tell or in this case, bang and tell.

"I wouldn't just have sex with anyone Maia, I want to love them first and they should love me back." Clary said in a measly way. Maia shook her head at Clary, grinning until a lightbulb went off in her head and her jaw dropped.

"Oh my God. Clarissa Morgenstern, are you still a virgin?"

Clary didn't respond and continued to stack more cups for future orders.

"Oh my God! You are! How old are you? Like twenty-one?" Maia said not-so-quietly, Clary swore that the whole shop could hear Maia considering the old man sitting near the window was glaring at the rambunctious girl behind the counter.

"So what if I am? I just want someone to sweep me off my feet you know?" Clary defended herself and furrowed her eyebrows. _There's nothing wrong with being a virgin, it's not like I've never had an orgasm. _

"I just have never met a twenty-one year old virgin, this is pretty exciting." Maia grinned until Clary turned around and glared at her.

"I'd rather focus on paying off my tuition and getting a job after. Majoring in the arts doesn't exactly give great opportunities. Besides, I have plenty of time to look for guys, now just isn't the time. When did you lose it?"

"Mmm, sixteen and boy was I a tiger? At least, that's what he told me." Maia gave her a coy grin and Clary scoffed.

"When I was sixteen, I ate in the art room because I couldn't even put down my paintbrush." Clary explained and Maia just laughed, placing her arm around Clary's shoulders.

"You'll find Prince Charming, but if you ever do need to just pop it. Blondie there yesterday–I am sure–would be willing to just get rid of it for you. And I'm sure he wouldn't make it hurt 'cause if you're good, it won't hurt. That's if you ever see him again though." Maia gushed "Man, I am so glad Magnus doesn't care about what we talk about in his shop. Best job everrrrr." She sang and Clary laughed and began to take orders when customers flooded in.

When the rush of customers began to calm down, Clary veered her thoughts to Jace. She wondered if he was doing okay on his own; if he was drinking again, if he had lunch or dinner to eat, or if he was upset about his ex-fiancee and ex-bestfriend. Clary thought about how she slipped away without saying goodbye even though she took care of him the whole night or how he bandaged her hand up. She felt terrible about the way she left him and wished she could go back and undo it.

"Thinking about Blondie?" Maia's voice infiltrated her thoughts and Clary snapped out of her daze.

"N-no." Clary tried to lie and Maia raised a brow, "Yes."

"Wanna talk about it?" Maia offered and touch Clary's arm as a kind gesture but Clary shook her head.

"I feel pretty bad about what I did this morning so I'd rather not. Thanks for offering though." Clary gave her a light smile and went to clear some tables.

Clary never understood why people never threw out their own trash since it was just paper cups. It was a job requirement though, so she didn't complain. Finishing her last table, she heard a rumble of thunder from outside. Looking out the window, she saw that it began pouring cats and dogs. Hopefully, the rain will end by the time her shift ended, otherwise the walk back to her apartment would be tough. She had to start on her art history paper tonight or else she would never get to it. NYU wasn't a forgiving university, and her professor was the epitome of unforgiving.

As she continued to work, the rain didn't stop, in fact it just kept pouring harder.

"Oh my God, the rain! I didn't even bring a jacket or an umbrella. Oh my God, I seriously hate the weatherman, he said it would be sunny all day!" Maia began freaking out since people that were outside as of right now, were drenched from head to toe.

Clary let out a groan, there was no one in the coffee shop because of the rain, so what was the point of having the employees stay besides getting paid for being here? She just wanted to go home and start her project without having to get drenched in the rain. She decided that she would have to run home and pray to God that she didn't get sick.

Most of the employees just sat at the tables waiting for the rain to stop. The restaurant was cleared of its customers and it was cleaned and the stock was refilled; there was absolutely nothing to do.

"Okay, since there's nothing to do, how about we play truth or dare?" Maia announced, "You know, until our shifts end."

All the employees were high schoolers or college students, no opposed to the game.

"Eric, truth or dare?" Maia asked deviously.

"I don't know...truth?" Eric stated confused to what he wanted to pick.

"Out of all the employees here, who would you fuck?" Everyone in the room dropped open their mouths in shock to Maia's bluntness.

"Oh my God…" Clary said mortified for Eric whose face immediately turned a bright red.

"Uh...Uhm…" He stammered and Maia interrupted,

"Come on Eric, we don't have all day."

"We actually do, some of our shifts don't end until two hours." A high school girl pointed out.

"I guess I'd sleep with you Clary." He stated and scratched behind his head. Eric avoided eye contact with Clary who simply raised her brows and crossed her arms.

"This is stupid Maia." Clary sighed and looked at the clock, it was literally one minute until her shift ended. She began untying her apron and walked to the employee room to hang the apron on the hook. When she got out, Maia was kissing the high school girl that interrupted her earlier on. Clary shook her head and left the shop, readying herself for what was to come with the evil rain.

There was no one out on the streets anymore besides some people scrambling to hail a cab or to get to their bikes. Clary began making a run for it, her apartment was three blocks away. By the time she reached the entryway of her apartment complex, she was shivering and drenched. Her hair became flat and her ssneakers were filled with water.

Shivering, she dug in her wet pockets for her keys. The only motivation to get up to her apartment was the heating system throughout the building and the hot bath she was about to run. After climbing three flights of stairs, her body was warmer than it was before and she ran into her bathroom of her home to run her bath.

Clary stripped out of her wet clothes and threw them in the laundry. Huffing a breath of frustration, she dipped her feet into the water and submerged herself in.

"God that feels nice!" She mumbled. Then she noticed her wrapped hand was soaked and let out a curse. "Better rewrap it." Undoing Jace's work, Clary noticed that the wound wasn't really there anymore. It was just tender and rewrapping her hand would just be a hassle.

After her bath, she just sat in her bathrobe and began working on her paper. _Venus and Adonis_ by Bartholomeus Spranger, it was a painting of the two Greek gods of beauty walking together. The myth was that Venus–or Aphrodite–gave Adonis to Persephone when he was a baby, but when he grew up to be handsome, Venus wanted him back. The Greek goddesses fought over Adonis until Zeus declared that Adonis would spend a third of the year with Persephone, a third of the year with Venus, and a third of the year with whomever he wanted to spend it with. Of course, Adonis spent his remaining third with Venus–being the Goddess of Beauty and Love. What was ironic about this story was the fact that Venus had tried to kill Adonis' mother for being beautiful, but ended up having an affair with Adonis. It was complicated. Greek gods were complicated in general.

Clary noticed that Adonis looked a lot like Jace; he was handsome and beautiful. The angle of his face was pointed directly at Venus, he focused only on her and Clary found the 1587 painting beautiful because of that. Adonis didn't really want to spend time with Persephone, he just wanted Venus because he loved her. Clary wondered how much Jace loves Kaelie; she wondered if Jace looked at Kaelie like Adonis looked at Venus.

Veering off the topic of her art history paper, she wondered how Jace was right now. God, how she hoped that he wasn't drinking.

* * *

He was drowning himself in whiskey.

Saying that Jace Wayland was miserable was an understatement, it was as if Kaelie and Sebastian didn't kill him that day, they had to do a blow to his soul this time.

_You are cordially invited to the wedding of:_

_Sebastian Verlac_

_and_

_Kaelie Summer_

_On April 20th of 2014_

_Feel free to bring one guest and the bride and groom wish to see you there to celebrate a marvelous day! _

_With Love, _

_Sebastian and Kaelie_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Final exams are coming up, I don't know how the updates are gonna go. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please do review.

Tell me your favourite parts of this story so far!

–Ry


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

A week after their encounter, Clary's thoughts began drifting away from Jace the moment she received her water bill. _Well I guess this is time to stop taking baths. _She thought and buried her face into her hands. Shaking her head, Clary walked out of her apartment and walked to the subway to get to the university. _I can not be dealing with money troubles right now. _

Clary's dad, Valentine, had never approved of her choosing to major in the arts. He'd always tell her, "It's a useless degree! If you want to end up like your mother, then I suggest that you choose business and you can work for me during your breaks. It's high pay and you'll have a successful future." But Valentine didn't understand that the reason why Jonathan had started drinking, was because he was always so stressed when he was working for their dad. Jonathan's death was when she understood that money couldn't buy happiness. Things had happened with their mother after Jonathan died; things Clary didn't really talk about to anyone at all. Of course, Valentine had blamed everything on the arts...even though the arts were the only escape.

When Clary got out the station, she walked up the stairs and towards the entrance, she saw a familiar figure roaming around. Sleek white hair and a black business suit, the man glanced at his watch several times until he looked up and saw his daughter marching towards him with a perplexed expression.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" Clary hissed out angrily. "I have to get to class, I cannot talk to you."

"It's just the arts, I doubt your professors even care." Valentine said waving it off, "Besides, I'm here to speak to you about something very important."

"Well, can we talk about this after? Why didn't you call to warn me that you were coming?" Clary began yelling and people around began to stare at the two of them.

"I do call you Clarissa, you don't pick up so I saw it to myself to come here and talk to you _in person_." Her father stated firmly and glanced around the NYU campus. "Good university choice, but terrible choice on you for picking the _arts._" He spat the arts out as he tasted something foul in his mouth.

"If you came here to criticize my decision in majoring in the arts, then I suggest that you leave." Clary rolled her eyes and began walking towards her class, though her father caught her arm and spun her around.

"There's a business dinner coming up and considering that Jonathan isn't here to entertain the guests…" Her father shut his eyes reflecting on the loss of his only son, "I beg that you that you come Clarissa."

"I have things to do, dad. I have rent to pay and papers to write and exams to study for. I can't just skip all that to entertain your business associates to talk about what colognes they should sell or how to help you make money!"

"Bring a friend! If you come to this dinner Clarissa, I will pay your rent for the rest of the year." He offered and then began to back away, "Think about it Call me tonight." And then he left. He was gone. This is why she didn't want to go, they had nothing in common; nothing to talk about. She was pretty sure that he has never expressed his love because one, he assumes that she knows that he loves her or two, he simply doesn't love her.

Huffing out a breath, Clary walked into her lecture hall and sat down beside her childhood friend, Simon.

"Someone looks mad, frustrated, flabbergasted, pissed off, terr–"

"Finish that word Simon, and I will castrate you just like the wild boar that tore off Adonis' genitals and left him bleeding to death." Clary cut him and shook her head in regret. "Sorry, I'm not usually this peeved."

Simon chuckled which left a dimple on his right cheek,

"I know you're usually not like this, I've known you since I was seven." He bumped her arm lightly and asked, "Seriously, what's got you so peeved though?"

"Father dearest decided to visit, I'd rather not talk about it."

"Well ain't that grand? The last time I saw him was when he shooed me out of your house for spilling orange juice over his designer sofa." Simon joked at this memory and Clary laughed at this. The hall immediately became silent when Professor Starkweather entered the room and began his lecture. The professor spoke about Sandro Botticelli's _The Birth of Venus, _he began with the Greek myth of Aphrodite since Venus is the Roman equivalent. In Hesiod's Theogony, Aphrodite was born when Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into sea and when the sea foam arose, there was Aphrodite. The professor then spoke about how she is portrayed in nudity in many artists' sculptures and paintings.

Simon nudged Clary's arm and pointed at _The Birth of Venus,_

"She looks like you y'know?"

"Because you have totally seen me in the nude Simon." Clary's voice dripped with sarcasm and scoffed.

"I was talking about the hair and the face but I think I know way too much about you to want to see you naked."

"You're talking about the Greek goddess of beauty here Simon. She doesn't have freckles and isn't five foot two."

"It doesn't mean you're not beautiful Clary." He smiled and they both turned their attention back to the lecture.

Many students began falling asleep during the lecture, it wasn't like anyone cared though. As long as you were paying your tuition and the university was receiving the money, they didn't care. Clary began to doodle on her notebook, the story of Aphrodite was something she already knew and Botticelli did not exactly excite her the way Spranger's painting did.

Clary thought about her father's offer about the dinner, if he paid rent for the rest of the year, she wouldn't have to worry as much. She could set aside the money she worked hard for next year. It seemed like a good plan. The only downside was the sleazy businessmen that worked alongside her father.

_Pangborn. _She distinctly remember that name.

Mr. Emil Pangborn was one of her father's business associates. The reason she remembered him was because he stole her first kiss when she attended her first business dinner at the age of fifteen. Clary remembered him being drunk and that it was a Christmas dinner, meaning mistletoes at every entrance in their home. It seemed that he cornered her towards one of the entrances and forced his lips upon hers. He was a sleazy bastard and Clary did not want to see him at that dinner. Maybe she'd invite Simon as a friend to the dinner to help her get through it; Valentine did say she could bring a friend.

The rumblings through the lecture hall knocked Clary out of her thoughts as she saw people getting up. It was over and she had a lunch break until her next class. Walking out of the lecture hall, Simon's girlfriend, Isabelle came to meet them.

"Hey guys! I am starving, can we go to Taki's?" Isabelle chirped and put on puppy dog pout in which Simon quickly captured with his lips.

"PDA–also known as public display of affection." Clary said in a robotic voice, "Can we please get something to eat? I think after that lecture, my brain needs something other than Botticelli."

Isabelle and Simon quickly broke apart and they began walking out the entrance to hail a cab.

"Clary, I think you need to get laid and I know just the guy." Isabelle said when they fastened their seatbelts in the cab.

"I honestly don't think I do Izzy." Clary sighed.

"Sex is a stress reliever, trust me, why do you think Simon and I are so happy all the time?" She grinned and Simon blushed pink.

"You know that I know someone who has sex all the time and he isn't happy at all." Clary stated referring back to Jace. Clary didn't technically know him, hell, she forgot where he even lived.

"Yeah, and who's that? They clearly aren't doing it with the right people if they aren't happy." Isabelle scoffed and clung onto Simon's arm.

"That doesn't mean I have to sleep with someone, what if they're not right for me?" Clary defended, she wanted to get off the topic of sex, it wasn't something she was comfortable with.

"I just know a guy who has a thing for petite, redheaded girls. He says that they're like spitfires in bed." Isabelle laughed and Clary scrunched up her face. Simon just looked downright uncomfortable being in the middle seat.

"I think I just lost my appetite." Simon stated before either girl could say anything.

"Trust me, you're starving and not just for food honey." Isabelle winked and Clary just shook her head. How Maia and Isabelle weren't best friends completely baffled her.

The cab stopped in front of Taki's and Isabelle shoved thirty dollars at the driver. When they entered the restaurant, they were seated by the window. While Isabelle and Simon were on the other side of the table, Clary was alone. It wasn't like she ever really needed anyone, at one point she needed her mother to drive her places, but that was when she really needed her.

Glancing at the menu, she saw that the lunch special was a tofu burger and made a face towards the image.

"I want to try the tofu burger, don't you Clary?" Isabelle asked full of excitement and Clary simply gave her face that said, "You're kidding me, right?"

"I think I'll have spaghetti and meatballs with calamari." Clary stated and glanced around the restaurant when Simon and Isabelle began cuddling up against each other. The PDA was almost unbearable.

As a waitress walked over, the door to the restaurant chimed and a yelling figure came in.

"I need to see her, where is she?" A man slurred and Clary recognized the voice.

_Jace. _

The waitress at their table let out an, "Oh no." She was blonde and her name tag read, _Kaelie. _

That was when Clary realized that this was Jace's Kaelie.

"Please, I need to see her or I won't leave." He begged to the greeter.

Clary got up and went to the entrance,

"He's with me, sorry about that." She said lightly and brought him to the table.

"Who is he?" Isabelle hissed, eyes ready to kill. The waitress–Kaelie– ran to the Employees Only room and a new waitress came out to take their order.

"Someone I met last week, he came stumbling into my workplace so I brought him home when my shift ended." Clary explained.

"Okay...but that doesn't explain why you brought him over here." Isabelle expressed her disdain for the drunk Jace and Simon gently patted her on the back. "Wait a minute, did you sleep with him? Because not going to lie, he is attractive. Sorry Simon, you're still my number one."

Simon rolled his eyes and gave the waitress their orders.

"I need to go after her." Jace slurred wanting to get out of his seat but Clary held him back.

"You can't, okay?" Clary said as if he was a child. "She's going to hurt you. You're studying med aren't you? Did you go to class drunk?"

Jace laughed and tapped Clary's nose,

"Of course I didn't...what's the point anymore?"

"I can't bring you home this time, I have a painting exam after this." Clary said and she looked towards Simon and Isabelle for help.

"He said he's in med right?" Isabelle said. "At NYU?"

"Jace, what university are you in?" Clary asked.

"NYU…" He trailed off as their food came.

"Did you eat anything?" Clary asked and he shook his head.

"Clary, don't." Simon said as she reached for her fork to feed him.

"He needs it more than I do Simon. Iz, he's probably in one of your classes right?" She said with desperate eyes and fed Jace a meatball in which he greedily ate.

"Probably, I could take him to my lecture, he'll just have to keep quiet and stay still. You owe me Clary." Isabelle huffed at the end.

"Thanks Isabelle." Clary said as she continued to feed Jace her spaghetti. Her stomach began to grumble and Simon offered her his fries. Clary shook her head and continued to feed Jace until her plate was empty. Isabelle and Simon looked at her with sympathy since they knew that she was hungry.

"You are way too nice Clary, even when that bird died when we were ten, you still had to bury the bloody thing." Simon shook his head and Clary wiped Jace's mouth with a napkin.

"I need to find her–I need to talk to Kaelie." Jace slurred and stumbled out of his seat and began to stumble around the restaurant. Clary immediately got up until Isabelle grabbed her wrist.

"Let him go." Isabelle said and Clary furrowed her eyebrows as tear were welling in her eyes.

"I need to help him! You don't understand." And she flung away Isabelle's hand to go after Jace.

After Clary exhaled to calm herself down, she came to find Jace putting a hand on Kaelie's shoulder.

"I am still so in love with you, why didn't you love me Kaelie? Why did you have to sleep with him? He's my best friend." Jace slurred as Kaelie tried to push him away.

"Jace, you're not sober. Go home." Kaelie said with eyes wide open. "I knew we shouldn't have sent that invitation, I told Seb not to but we really just want you to be happy for us."

Jace let out an obnoxious laugh that full of hurt,

"Be happy for you guys? That's a great joke Kaelie, he couldn't be happy for you and me so why should I be happy for you two?"

"Go home Jace." Kaelie said with defeat, it was clear that she was frustrated and embarrassed. Everyone in the restaurant was staring at the two of them in their heated discussion. "Jace, you have to go, you're going to get me fired." That was went Clary stepped in and tugged Jace on the arm.

"Let's go okay?" Clary whispered to him and he shook his head.

"I want an explanation and I'm not leaving until I get one." Jace said firmly as if he was sober.

"You want an explanation?" Kaelie asked and she leaned in to whisper in his ear so that no one else but Clary would hear, "I love him, he loves me and nothing in the world can break that, even if I wasn't with him, I wouldn't go back with you Jace. You have no idea how much you suffocated me with the flowers everyday or the goodnights. Sex was great but it was just sex, I didn't love you, I just said that I did because that's how I saw him."

Jace only shook his head and backed away,

"You're lying." His entire body began to shake, it was as if he was about to combust. Clary saw that he was trying to hold in his hurt in front Kaelie and she pulled him behind her.

"I'd like to pay the bill." Clary said to her and shook her head at Kaelie's pathetic and heartbreaking explanation. "You really do not deserve him." She said as she slid in her debit card and entered her pin.

"And you do? He will suffocate you." Kaelie questioned with an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know if I do or if he will. But we're friends and friends don't hurt each other, we don't suffocate each other. It's just the fact that you used him." And she took her card out, dragging Jace along with her back to the table.

"I paid the bill, let's go, I don't want to stay here." Clary announced to the couple and held Jace's hand towards the door.

When they were all outside, Simon was the first to speak,

"Clary, you didn't eat anything!"

"Yeah, the kids in Africa barely eat anything either. I think I'll be fine." She defended.

"This guy–Jace is it? You barely know him and now you're dragging him along with us. You don't have to help everything and anything you see Clary." Simon yelled at her and Clary stood her ground.

"She hurt him and I am not going to let anyone hurt Jonathan you hear me!" She yelled back with a few tears rolling down her face and onto her mouth.

"Oh God...I'm sorry Clary." Simon apologized quickly and enveloped her in a hug.

"Does anybody want to tell me what's going on?" Isabelle questioned, throwing her hands up in the air. "We have to get back to campus, but we're stopping at McDonalds because you Morgenstern, need to eat." Isabelle commanded them to follow her as she hailed a cab.

"McDonalds and then NYU." She said in a clipped tone to the taxi driver. Everyone in the car could tell that she was pissed.

"Why are you crying Angel?" Jace asked Clary and began to thumb her collarbone the way he did the first time that they were in a taxi.

"Nothing." Clary whispered as Simon tried to get Isabelle to speak to him.

"Thank you Angel...for saving me back there." He whispered back and buried his face into her the nape of her neck.

"Don't worry about it." And she began to graze his hair with her fingers to comfort him. When Jace didn't cry like he did a week ago, Clary somehow began to think that he might be okay...but the thing was that Jonathan never cried.

* * *

"He's all yours to take home Clary. He slept like a baby in lecture hall, he just has a pounding headache. He's not completely sober though; still a bit drunk." Isabelle explained and handed Jace to her.

"Thanks Iz." Clary said and walked towards where Jace was standing. "Hey."

"Hi…" Jace said looking at down at his feet. "I'm so sorry about today."

"It's fine." Clary laughed, "I didn't fail my exam and I got a cheeseburger down my stomach so I'm good."

Jace pulled up the corners of his lips into a smile and looked into her eyes,

"I think I can go home on my own."

"I don't think you can." Clary challenged in the most honest way."I don't have work today or tomorrow so I can either go to your apartment or you can go to mine and I'm going to cook you dinner."

"You're bossy aren't you?" He mused and smirked when she crossed her arms.

"I'm not bossy, I just like to take care of people. How long have you been drinking?" Clary asked and Jace's face immediately went pale. "I'm going to assume all week. You're coming home with me, Upper East Side is too far. Come on, we're going to ride the subway." She began walking towards the stairs that led down to the underground train and he followed.

"Look, I can pay you back for the meal in Taki's today and I can just go home by myself." Jace said when they were scanning the cards.

"Nope, you're coming with me." Clary said popping the p.

"Well, am I going home tonight? I won't have a change of clothes for tomorrow and I have a paper to write." Jace lied, though his eyes were easy to see that he was lying.

Clary turned to look to him and she gave him a smile,

"You're a terrible liar. I'm not letting you go home to drink again Jace, I'm your friend." She picked up his hand and squeezed it.

As the subway began moving, Clary stared straight at the ground reflecting upon her day. She realized that she hadn't cried since she found out that Jonathan had died until today. A lump grew in her throat and it squeezed in her chest. Jace stared at the girl beside him, she was completely lost in her thoughts, only blinking every thirty seconds approximately. He decided that Clary was actually very pretty. Light freckles adorned her nose and her cheeks, it wasn't too much and it wasn't too little. He remembered how even in his drunk daze, she stood up for him at the restaurant and pulled him away before he could further get hurt.

The subway stopped moving and they got off. When the two approached her apartment, the first thing he said was,

"Is this place safe? It's tiny!"

"Yeah, it's tiny but it's cozy just the way I like it." Clary smiled and jiggled her key through the door. "Take off your shoes and I'll cook dinner. Fried rice or perogies?"

"Fried rice, thank you. Do you have any aspirin? My head is pounding." Jace looked around, she didn't have a TV, she had an old sofa, a coffee table, and a few paintings. That was really it; just the basic necessities.

"Yeah, I'll get it for you." She tiptoed to reach the cabinet and her shirt rose to reveal her creamy skin. Jace remembered how he turned around to peek at the mirror while she was changing and he smirked. "Here you go." Clary whipped around to find him smirking. "Something funny?" She asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her hair.

"Uh nope, nothing. Thanks." He replied and took out a pill and swallowed it without water. Clary began cooking and Jace continued to roam around her apartment. He noticed that she had no photos around the house, only paintings by the name of Jocelyn Morgenstern.

When he walked back to the kitchen, Clary was sliding the rice into two bowls and handed one to Jace.

"Come! Sit with me on the sofa." She piped and walked to the brown sofa that felt lumpy to Jace.

"Thanks again." Jace said and took a spoonful of rice to his mouth.

"It's no problem. I'll sleep on the sofa tonight, you can take my bed." Clary said and turned on the laptop that was sitting on her coffee table.

"What kind of a man would I be if I let the lady sleep on the sofa?" Jace chuckled.

"I slept on the sofa when I was at your apartment, well then again, you offered to let me sleep in the same bed as you but then you'd probably try to kiss me again." Clary laughed and hints of pink began to show up on Jace's face.

"I'm a ladies' man, I'm not going to lie about that. And I guess I told you about _them_, so I assume that you know that I use sex to forget. Well, that and alcohol." Jace explained and Clary just tilted her head.

"You know that there's other distractions besides alcohol and sex." Clary said and Jace set down his bowl of rice and looked to the floor.

"Like what?"

"Like hanging out with your friends, throwing yourself into schoolwork, or I don't know, cooking?" She laughed as she imagined Jace in an apron. "Alcohol will just destroy and sex will give you STDs."

Jace flickered his eyes back to Clary,

"You're a virgin aren't you?" He smirked when she blushed a full on red.

"N-no." She stammered and thought, _Oh my God, are we really talking about this? _

Jace decided to scooch more towards her and leaned into her face,

"Yeah? Then have sex with me right now on this sofa." He challenged and for the second time since they met, her hand connected with his face, the sound of it being almost thunderous.

"Okay! So what if I'm a virgin? Oh my God, I do not want to talk about this." Clary said mortified, "Sorry, I slapped you but how does everyone know."

"You make sex sound like a disease Clary, like it's the worse thing in the world." Jace admitted with a grin, he didn't even look affected by the slap. "It feels amazing, I'm just saying."

"I know it feels amazing, it's not like I haven't had an orgasm before." Clary blurted out and Jace raised his brows.

_Fuck, I am so turned on right now. Down boy, down. _He thought and gulped when Clary turned red again.

"Forget that I said that." Clary rushed out and finished the rest of her dinner. Dropping her bowl in the sink, the phone rang and immediately she picked it up.

"Hi, who is it?" Clary greeted and Jace watched intensely as she spoke. "Oh, hey dad."

She mouthed a "sorry" to Jace and went to her room to talk.

"Yeah, the dinner, I completely forgot, I'll come. I'm bringing a friend though."

"Is it Simon?" Valentine asked on the other line.

"I don't know yet, I'll let you know as soon as possible. When's the dinner?"

"Friday, six pm, cocktail." He said in a clipped tone and hung up.

"Goodbye to you too." Clary muttered and went out to put the phone back in its place. She came back to find Jace on Google Chrome, he was looking at her history and found that she was looking up sex toys.

"Jace!" She shouted and he immediately grabbed the laptop away from her when tried to reach for it. He was laughing at her as she turned beet red. "Don't!" He clicked on the link and saw what she had ordered.

"Extreme Pleasuring Rabbit Vibrator? Fuck Clary!" He was laughing at her order, "Oh! It's in pink too!" Clary was climbing on Jace now to get her laptop back, she decided place her finger on his stomach, and moved them like crazy. "Fuck, I'm ticklish, Clary stop!"

"Give me my laptop back Jace!" She demanded and he handed it over. Clary quickly shut the lid and hid it in her room. When she came back, Jace was smirking at her.

"You look innocent to the eye at first sight but you're secretly sexy." Jace stated this without shame and Clary blushed.

"Is this how you get women into your bed because I am not sleeping with you." She said stitching her brows together and crossing her arms.

"Nope, I usually just look at them and they throw themselves at me." He said stretching his legs across the sofa and placing his hands behind his head. "But in my opinion, I think that you should just screw me and get it over with."

Jace looked at her with amusement, it wasn't the way that Adonis looked at Venus in the Spranger's painting though. The way Jace looked at Kaelie fully captured Spranger's piece of art.

"I'll pass on that deal. I want to have sex with someone I love...not just anyone." Clary explained and looked away. Jace's amusement in his eyes went away and was replaced by sadness again.

"I used to be like that...and then I met her and I gave her everything. You'll find him Clary." He said squeezing her hand.

"Thanks." She gave a light smile and went to her room. Coming back, she placed a towel and some of her old brother's clothes in his hand. "Go take a shower if you want, the pressure isn't exactly like yours but it's something. Try to shower quickly because I need to as well."

"Or y'know we can shower together–"

"Not happening Jace." She immediately cut him off and he grinned, walking to the bathroom.

Jace finished in less than ten minutes and Clary immediately went in. When they were both on the sofa again, Clary decided to finish up her paper. At the end of her last paragraph, she glanced sideways and found that Jace was asleep. Closing her laptop, she put it back in her room once again and grabbed an extra pillow and an afghan. She slid the pillow under his head and draped the afghan over him.

"Sweet dreams Jace." She whispered and retreated to her room for the night.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Last update for what seems to be the month! I got a job at the movie theatre and there are pretty hectic shifts that clash with my schoolwork too and that makes me so sad. I have started on Chapter Four yesterday so hopefully I can finish it tonight. It _is _exam week and I am about to cry because I suck at Biology! Haha, wish me luck and review!

Favourite parts?  
City of Heavenly Fire cover? It is AMAZING. If Jace dies in the last book though, I will not go to school for the rest of the week.  
And yes, HTL20 is up and running once again though Miserable at Best is my main focus!

Shoot a review! :)

-Ry


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

They sat on the sofa eating breakfast in silence. Both Jace and Clary felt dead considering that Jace slept on the sofa and his back ached, and Clary stayed up after retreating to her room since she thought that Jace would sneak out on her. There were consecutive yawns coming from the both of them even though they both drank coffee out of large mugs.

"I might not have work, but I have class Jace." Clary stated as she brought both their plates to the sink.

"I don't want to go to class." He began to whine and she turned to raise a brow at him.

"Jace...I'm assuming you missed a lot of class and you're in med! Do you have any idea how competitive that is? Go to class and catch up!" She scolded and threw her hands up in the air.

Groaning, he opened his mouth to whine again though Clary gave him a glare this time and Jace shut his mouth.

"We'll go back to your apartment to get some clothes." Clary announced and washed the dishes. Inside, Clary knew that she could have given him more of Jonathan's clothes but she wasn't ready to fully let go of all of them. She was selfish and she knew that, but she already felt like she was letting Jonathan go the moment she gave him a set of his old clothes to Jace yesterday.

"So now you let me go home?" Jace joked and poked her on the side of her stomach, causing Clary to jump and drop the fork she was washing.

"Jace!" She squeaked and began washing quicker.

"Seems like I'm not the only one who's ticklish." He mused and slipped his shoes on, ready to leave. Soon, she joined Jace at the door and they left for the subway.

"So what department are you in?" Jace asked when they entered his penthouse. The ride on the subway had been girls coming up to them–well Jace–for his number. Clary simply watched all the madness as teenage girls practically pranced onto him.

"The arts. My major is art history though." Clary replied and she sat down on the couch.

"That's nice, I don't hear many people that go into the arts anymore because it's risky. Everyone's in business." Jace stated and Clary agreed in her mind that Jace and her could be really great friends if he believed that the arts were practically dead because everyone was too afraid to take a risk.

"Mhm, yeah, my dad wanted me to go into business. He owns that cologne company Iratze and he wanted me take over but I chose the arts. Boy, did that piss him off." Clary laughed and Jace smiled at her carefree thoughts.

"Iratze? I wear that cologne, it actually smells great–much better than that Axe shit." Jace stated and entered his room. Clary got up and waited outside his room so that they could continue talking.

"Well, I've never actually smelled it." Clary admitted through the door. "He wants me to go to some company dinner with him this Friday and entertain his sleazy business associates. Honest to God, who the hell would want to do that?"

Jace opened the door, revealing himself in fresh clothes.

"Give me a hug and smell me." As if that was the most normal thing to comply to in the world, Clary did it and he smelled great.

"Wow, good job Papa Morgenstern." She nodded and pulled away. "So yeah, if I go to the dinner, he promised to pay my rent for a whole year, such a good deal!" _And I was wondering if you wanted to come with me? _Clary wanted to add, hoping it would show Mr. Pangborn that there was someone that cared for her. Though Clary wasn't exactly sure if Jace actually cared for her…

"I'm assuming that he refuses to pay any of your tuition or rent because you didn't go into business." Jace said and Clary tilted her head with a nod.

"Yeah, well...yeah." What she really wanted to say was, _Well, my mother went crazy after the death of my brother and ran away with her best friend and my father blames the arts for making her crazy. _

"Well, I wish you good luck at that dinner." Jace smiled and entered the bathroom to brush his teeth and shave.

"Um...Jace? Can I ask you something?" She was going to do it, she was going to ask him to go with her on Friday.

"Yeah, what?" He wiped his face with a towel after he finished shaving and he turned his full attention onto the petite redhead in front of him.

"So...that dinner, I was wondering if you could go with me? I'd bring my friend Simon but I really don't want to leave his girlfriend boyfriend-less on a Friday night." Clary rambled out in a mess of words and Jace smirked.

"So as a date?" He asked, though inside he was secretly hurting about Kaelie.

"No, just as friends, just to help entertain some business associates so that I don't embarrass my father more than I already have." Clary shook her head with an explanation, leaving Jace somewhat relieved that she wasn't asking him on a date.

"All right, just a friends." He smiled and ruffled her hair. Clary's face turned into a scowl. Sticking out her tongue, she poked Jace in the stomach and ran to the living room. "What are you doing Clary?" Jace chuckled.

"Reminding you that we have class! Let's go!" Clary called and opened the door with Jace following after her.

"Why are you my friend Clary?" Jace shook his head with a huff while they were standing on the subway again.

"Because you need a friend and so do I?" She answered in a question like form which shut Jace up.

"I guess." That was all he said before she turned away and shut her eyes tight. Clary hadn't really been alive since the death of Jonathan Morgenstern. Maia was persistent and Simon had always been there. Isabelle was the love of Simon's life so it felt like she was always there anyways. Maia was just her co-worker and Simon and Isabelle had each other, so really Clary didn't exactly have anyone.

"Are you okay Clary?" Jace whispered at her ear and she nodded, opening her eyes.

"Yeah, of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Clary released a wide smile and poked Jace in the ribs.

"You sure?" Jace raised his brows, he didn't believe her; not at all.

"Definitely." She nodded, "Especially if you're coming to that dinner. Oh yeah, it's at six pm and the attire is cocktail." Clary managed to change the subject back to the company dinner and Jace began talking about his collection bow ties and ties. They agreed to get ready at his apartment and that she would crash at his place later on.

Their friendship was casual and both of them were okay with that. Jace had even offered to share his apartment with her and split the rent though Clary immediately refused. When they reached the campus of NYU, the two parted ways and into their classes. Clary and Jace though, both knew that they would be hanging out after.

As Clary walked in again to her lecture hall, she was stopped by Simon with his arms crossed.

"You Miss Morgenstern have explaining to do?" Simon's glasses usually made him look funny though this time, it made him look dead serious. "I didn't say anything yesterday because Isabelle was there questioning you already, but you haven't answered any questions Clary."

Clary huffed out a breath and closed her eyes,

"I'm helping a friend because I don't want him to end up like Jonathan. That's the truth, what else do you want me say?"

"How long have you even known him for Clary? He's a stranger!" Simon exclaimed through a hushed whisper so that people wouldn't stare at the two of them.

"A week? And you and I started out as strangers; everyone does that's how you make friends!" Clary thought that this was the most ridiculous conversation in the world. She didn't expect Isabelle to understand but she expected Simon to. Though this time, Simon was rendered speechless, he had nothing else to say but he had something to do and that was to protect his best friend from getting her.

"Okay." He let out in defeat. "I guess it's good for you to have other friends too Clary...I'm happy for you." Simon let out a meek smile and wrapped his arms around her.

"You know I care for you Morgenstern."

"Of course I know." They broke apart from their hug and went into the lecture hall to listen to Professor Starkweather drone on about Botticelli.

* * *

"How the hell did you manage to get me to school is absolutely beyond me." Jace stated the moment he entered the subway with Clary. She let out a laugh and tiptoed to pat Jace on the head. "I have so much to catch up on, my head fucking hurts." Professor Herondale had assigned two papers and an exam following the due date of the last paper. Imogen Herondale was the hardest marker that Jace had ever had in his life, the day he received a 95 on his paper of the human heart, he actually went up to hug the professor.

Today, Professor Herondale actually noticed that Jace had shown up. In all honesty, she believed that he was a promising student and actually told him that last year. Jace felt proud when she had told him he was probably the best student she had ever had. But when she shook her head in disappointment today the moment she saw him, it felt as if she pierced his heart. He knew that she was disappointed and he wanted to redeem himself.

"Has anyone ever told you that you use the "F" word like it's water?" Clary tried to joke and he simply laughed, throwing his head back.

"Fuck that Clary, fuck that." Jace said shaking his head as she scrunched her nose at his choice of words.

"It's rude you know? Oh God, at the dinner on Friday, please don't use that word." Clary had a mortified face when she splurged out the words.

"My dad will freak out, he hates cussing." Clary explained and Jace curved his lips into a reassuring smile.

"I won't, I'll be speaking as if I was talking to a five year old okay?" Jace joked and he saw that Clary immediately relaxed. "Have you ever sworn in front of your parents?"

She raised her brows at him as if he had asked if she had ever licked a toad.

"I have never sworn in general."

This time he raised his brows at her,

"Okay, fine. I used to swear." She admit and he smirked which made her slap him on the arm.

"Hey, hey, hey, hands to yourself Clary." He warned jokingly, "What do you mean you used to swear?"

"It means that I swore in the past–with words even worse than the F word–but I came to an epiphany that I might go to hell one day as punishment for swearing." Clary was dead serious and Jace's expression fell from amusement to sadness. He couldn't imagine an angel like Clary going to hell, if it were anyone in the world that were to burn in eternal fire, he believed that it would be himself.

"You do understand that God forgives and that he wouldn't throw you into the eternal furnace right?"

"It doesn't mean I should keep sinning when I know I am though." Clary replied and proceeded to ask Jace a question, "Do you believe in God, Jace?"

"I know He–" Jace pointed upward, "is there but I feel like either way we're on our own until Judgment Day. And you would be the last person to go to hell Clary, trust me."

Clary shrugged and smiled,

"Thanks Jace. I strive to be like the Messiah but I don't think self pleasuring is very holy." Her cheeks flushed with pink.

"Well you try, doesn't that count?"

"I don't know...I can't judge." Clary answered and their conversation ended until the subway stopped. They walked together to Jace's apartment in utter silence and even when they were in his living room, they didn't speak until Jace began a conversation.

"I think I want to throw out the alcohol." He announced and got up to go to his kitchen.

"That's great Jace! Do you need help?" Clary asked, following him. Jace had already begun to clear out his bottles of vodka, whiskey, and bourbon by placing them in a large cardboard box.

"I think I can do it on my own." He grunted, lifting the box and placing it near the door of his apartment. "I'll bring it to the liquor depot, might get some money back but it's not like I need it."

"So are you going to find a new distraction?" Clary questioned with a wide smile. She was proud of him and Jace could sense that, it made him smile on the inside.

"I'll start with throwing myself in schoolwork, I really need to catch up." Jace sighed and Clary opened her arms which caused Jace to stitch his eyebrows together in confusion.

"I'm offering a hug Jace, so hug me back." And so he did, it felt stiff to Clary. Jace wasn't letting himself be open to her, she could tell he was holding back so she hugged a little tighter; pulling him closer.

It felt better, Jace missed being hugged. It felt more intimate than sex, maybe he'd hug her more often. The embrace lasted for about ten more seconds before Clary pulled away and smiled at him. Something tugged inside of Jace that made him want more, he pulled her in once again for another hug.

"I want to kiss you." He simply blurted and she stood frozen. "I won't though." He pulled away, staring at his feet. "I'm sorry for even saying that, I don't know why I did...I'm still in love with her so I don't know why I said it. I'm sor–"

"Jace!" She cut him off with a smile. "It's okay." Clary squeezed his hand for reassurance. "I'm proud of you, you are _so _strong. You're throwing away the alcohol and you're catching up on school. Trust me, it's okay." Jace looked up again and bored his eyes into hers.

"I just don't want to lose a friend." He choked, his voice scratchy. "I've already lost so many I don't want to lose you too." Jace felt his chest tightening and a lump in his throat had grew. Sebastian was his _best _friend and ever since that incident...he had pushed away everyone else to keep himself from getting betrayed once more. That led to one nights stands and drunken nights and skipping class. If his mother knew, she would turn over in her grave.

"Jace...you won't lose me." Clary promised and hugged him once more, rubbing her hand up and down his back to calm him.

"How do I know that?" Jace asked in a whisper.

"You just have to learn to trust me." Clary stated.

* * *

A roar of laughter came from the living room from the two friends. After Jace and Clary went to the liquor depot to clear the boxes of alcohol, they returned to his apartment and ordered Thai.

"Your prom date threw up on you?!" Clary exclaimed with dimples forming on both sides of her cheeks.

"Don't laugh." But he was laughing too at the memory, "Apparently the oysters she ordered at the restaurant were bad."

Clary sipped the water that was placed in a champagne glass and smiled as she did.

"I would laugh it off!" She stated with a grin, "I didn't go to prom; no regrets though."

"Why not?" Jace asked.

"No one asked." She simply said and placed a forkful of her Thai noodles in her mouth.

The room became silent and both their faces were wiped away of amusement and happiness.

"I would have asked you." Jace said honestly and Clary shook her head with a bitter smile.

"No you wouldn't have. No one even knew my name except for Simon." Clary avoided eye contact with Jace, she wasn't going to show him how upset she was that she couldn't even go to her own prom.

"I guess you're right, but if we had another prom right now, I'd ask you." Jace said honestly and she still refused to look at him, only to continue eating until her Thai take out box was empty. She got up and placed the empty box in the trash can with Jace quickly following after her.

"I'm gonna go home Jace, it's getting pretty late." She still wasn't looking at him. High school wasn't the best for her, the reason no one knew her name was because she never let them know who she was. It was a coping mechanism since Jonathan had died towards the end of her sophomore year.

"Are you sure? You can just crash here." Jace didn't want to sound desperate, but he didn't want to be alone. No matter how much he had tried to convince her that she should just move in with him as his roommate, she had refused.

"Yeah, I have work tomorrow so I'm gonna need that uniform after class is over. I'll see you on Friday Jace." And Clary turned the knob of the door, disappearing quickly.

Their day had been a rollercoaster; at the peaks, they were laughing and enjoying each other's company, and then it dropped to somber talk and sadness. Jace made a promise to himself that the next time they hung out, he would avoid the sad topics...he hated seeing her upset. Then again, Jace did not know much about Clary; he did not know what made her upset and what didn't.

Jace sat on the sofa, reflecting upon how alone he was right now. Sure, he had promised to stay away from the alcohol and to start going to school, but there was one thing he didn't promise to stay away from: sex.

It was the one thing that kept him from feeling alone just that little while. It felt good for him and his partner so why not? He took his phone and dialled an old friend.

"Hey Aline...it's me, Jace. Do you wanna come over tonight?" He asked over the phone. "Great, I'll you in half an hour then." He hung up almost immediately.

Jace felt guilty that he was having another woman over just after Clary was here, but he shouldn't, they were just friends. Friends didn't care who they slept with. Jace pushed the thought away and waited for Aline to arrive.

When she did, Aline had pretty much attacked Jace on the lips and mumbled,

"Bedroom."

That was how he had ended his night–sex with Sebastian's cousin.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a cramped New York apartment, a redhead was sobbing in her shower to how she had always been alone her whole life. And it was her fault; her own grievous fault. The one time she almost let someone in, she pushes him away and flees. It was clear to Clary that her friendship with Jace was rocky. How could she even ask Jace to trust her when she didn't even trust him? The question made her sob even further.

Clarissa Morgenstern spent her night eating a tub of ice cream and crying over the photos of her deceased brother; someone she could possibly never let go of.

* * *

**Author's Note: **This is my update for the week because of exams and my job and my struggles with my spirituality, I'm just stressed. Hopefully, there will be another chapter up by next Monday! Aline will not be a bad guy in this story, she's just a booty call. Although...we will be learning more in the morning in the next chapter! Muah!

Shoot a review!

-Ry


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"I had sex last night." Jace said abruptly when both him and Clary sat down at a coffee table after her shift. Clary was stirring her coffee when she looked up at him with her doe like eyes.

They hadn't seen each other since that day in his apartment with her upset. She had been wondering how he was and the statement shocked her.

"Um...okay, that's great?" Clary tried to lie and be happy for Jace but it came out forced and awkward.

"It's really not great...she's Sebastian's cousin." Jace admit with shame and looked down on his coffee mug.

"Huh." Clary had no words for Jace, in fact, she felt disappointed after he had told her he wanted to kiss her the other night and then went ahead to sleep with that girl a couple days later. "So...how long have you been sleeping with her?"

"She was just someone I lost my virginity to–no strings attached–I haven't seen her since I met Kaelie but I slept with her that night you were there." _Okay, so it wasn't a couple days later._ Clary thought and continued to stir her coffee but not drinking it.

"I'm not sure what you want me to say Jace." Clary said honestly, letting go of the spoon and allowing it to clang onto the coffee mug. She leaned back on her seat and let out a sigh.

"Tell me I'm an awful person and that I don't deserve to live." He clenched his eyes shut in pain and she leaned over to hold his hands.

"You're not an awful person Jace, you make mistakes just like everyone else because you're human." As he opened his eyes, the line between his brows remained, though he saw an angel in front of him, he knew deep inside he didn't deserve her kindness.

"I wish I was sinless like you." Jace whispered, and Clary quickly took her hands away from his and took a sip from her coffee mug.

"I'm not sinless though, I've done bad things." _Like not noticing that Jonathan was drowning in depression. _She wanted to add but didn't because it was too personal to share to Jace at this point.

"I don't think self pleasure is a sin Clary." He stated, referring back to when he was looking through her laptop.

"Sexual immorality is a sin Jace."

"Then I must be Lucifer who fell out of the heavens like a morning star." He whispered and Clary shook her head.

"If you're referring to my surname, yes, it does mean morning star and it pertains to myself more than it does to you Jace. You're not Lucifer and neither am I, we're not demons; we have demons." Clary explained and he was silent.

"I wasn't referring to your last name Clary, I'm sorry." At this point, Clary felt as if Jace were a little boy apologizing to his mother.

"Don't apologize Jace, it was nothing." She tried to chuckle but it only left him with a grave face.

Inside, Jace felt terrible but he didn't want to show his feelings to Clary anymore. It left him vulnerable and it only got her hurt. _You're not Lucifer and neither am I, we're not demons; we have demons. _Jace wondered what demons she had; he wondered how an angel like her could possibly have any imperfections.

"So, we're still going to the business dinner tonight right? We'll take a cab tonight to get the dress from my apartment and then we'll go over to yours to get ready. My dad's covering all the transportation payments so no subway today." Clary smiled at the change of topic though Jace was set into his thoughts, trying to figure out what had happened in Clary's life. "Jace?" She waved a hand over his eyes and he snapped out of his trance.

"Yeah, great! Perfect!" He said with surprisingly convincing enthusiasm.

"Perfect!" She chirped and grinned, "Repeat what I just told you about the transportation."

This left Jace utterly tongue tied and terrified of what would happen next.

"Yeah...okay, I wasn't listening." He said honestly as she sipped her coffee.

"Is anything else bothering you Jace?"

_Besides the fact that I'm trying to figure my life out without Kaelie or my best friend and besides the fact that I want to just fuck you and get it over with and not care about you or myself, I'm perfectly fucking okay. _Jace wanted to say all this but he only uttered a "No", leaving Clary to repeat her explanation of the transportation.

After they finished their coffee, they walked back to her apartment to retrieve the dress. They walked in silence; not having anything to say to one another.

Clary knew though that she shouldn't be hurt at Jace's honesty and that she shouldn't make it more awkward than it already was. She couldn't speak as words caught at her throat and refused to come out. She felt hurt. She did want Jace to kiss her again but he wasn't over Kaelie and she didn't want to feel an ounce of love for someone that could die just like Jonathan. But she was drawn to him, the need to be kind was what her brother had passed down to her.

_Maybe I should just give it up..._Clary thought about letting Jace take over her body, then maybe she wouldn't feel hurt anymore because they were just friends and Jace could forget and she could just not be that virgin.

As she picked up her gold, glittered heels from her closet, she noticed the box of old photo albums she had stole from Valentine's home. Gulping, she grabbed her dress bag and makeup bag and strode out the room to where Jace was.

"Let's go, the cab is probably here." She breathed out and walked quickly out the door.

He wasn't blind. Jace saw that Clary was flustered and upset and quickly caught up to her. With silence, he rested his hand on the small of her back and pulled her close to his side.

"Whatever it is you can tell me Clary." Jace said and she shook her head.

"It's nothing. I just don't want to be at this dinner." Clary smoothly lied, hoping he wouldn't see through it.

"I'll be there remember?" He gave a reassuring smile and ushered her into the cab.

"About that thing with Sebastian's cousin..." Clary started but didn't get to finish when Jace interrupted.

"I'm not going to see her anymore, it's not healthy. I think when I see you, you remind me of an angel leading me in the right direction."

Clary's heart pumped a bit faster at his words and bit down on her bottom lip.

"I truly think that God sent you to save me." Jace continued and Clary blushed.

"Thanks Jace, but I'm no angel."

"Why are you always so modest? You're a good person Clary, hell, you're better than good. Any guy would be lucky to have you, and sometimes I wish..." But he didn't finish his sentence when the cab halted to a stop in front of his apartment.

"Get out and pay me." The taxi driver rudely stated.

"It'll be covered by Valentine Morgenstern, just write a cheque and we'll sign for it to be covered." Clary explained and the driver did so with a roll of his eyes.

"As I was saying–" Jace started but didn't finish when the brash driver cut in.

"I have other business to attend to, so get out!" He demanded and the two scrambled out.

"Well that was harsh..." Clary said and shrugged, beginning to walk to his pad.

"I'm gonna take a shower. Do you need to take one first?" Clary asked and Jace took this moment to slide in a joke.

"Or we can take it together." He winked, but this left Clary confused.

_Does he like me? No way, he isn't over Kaelie, he doesn't like me, he wouldn't like someone like me. God, I don't like him do I? Sure, he's hot and he's fun and he's always dropping these hints but that's just him;he's a flirt. Don't let this go over your head. _Clary let these thoughts stream through her brain but in the end she let out a nervous chuckle and shook her head.

"Clary, just take one first, I need to figure out how to tie my bowtie." Jace said in all seriousness with a smirk and shooed her into the bathroom.

Huffing, he went to his room to blow off steam. The moment he heard the shower go on, he punched a wall. The asshole of a taxi driver never let him complete his thoughts and he was frustrated. Jace needed to fuck her, otherwise he'd get too attached.

_But I promised to be her friend only. _He groaned at his conscience. _When has that ever stopped you before Wayland? Damn 32Cs, you know you want them. _He was having an internal battle with himself. It was as if an angel was on one shoulder and the devil on the other.

He thought of her in the shower; how the streaming hot water was running through her hair and the pressure of the shower nozzle was just right making her moan. He was turned on by those fantasies but Clary was a friend and he was still trying to get over Kaelie.

_Maybe you were over Kaelie the moment Clary dragged you out that restaurant. Maybe you should just admit that you like her...but it's too soon. _He pondered and his hands led down his pants and near his groin.

Up and down were the motion of his hands, he let out sighs of relief as the pleasure grew. He felt Jace Jr. down there twitch and he fully unbuttoned his dark wash jeans and continued. He thought of her; the redhead in his shower but what he really wanted was to touch her in his bed and hear her say his name drenched in lust as he was going in and out of her slowly. Just as he nearly reached his peak, he heard a gasp at the door of his bedroom.

She was in an emerald, strapless dress that had a bejeweled bodice and came mid thigh, her hair was blow dried into a natural and controlled state, and her makeup was done so that she looked sun kissed and pure. She was beautiful...and she just saw him jacking off to her.

"I–I'm done." Clary quickly turned around in embarrassment and strode to the living room in her heels that only made Jace grow harder when he saw that the heels only made her legs longer.

He wanted those legs around his waist and walked into the shower to finish his business. Jace didn't even feel ashamed when he saw her walk in with her doe eyes full of innocence and her mouth that dropped into a small O. He knew he was big and he knew that she looked at the length of his dick. But the other thing he also knew was that she was still a virgin and would require a lot of foreplay in order for the first time to not hurt so great. It only increased his libido even further at the thought of it.

When Jace finished his shower, he buttoned his sleek white shirt and placed a red silk bowtie around the collar. Tying it to absolute perfection, he walked out to meet Clary in the living room.

"Hey? You ready?" He asked with his tuxedo jacket slung over his shoulder.

"Uh, yeah I am." Clary said still trying to recover from what she had seen. Sure, she has watched porn before just to see why men were so obsessed with it and she had seen men that were big but had always wondered if it were surgically enhanced and she knew that Jace's definitely weren't.

Jace offered out his arm and grinned when he heard her breath hitch,

"What you saw back there won't give you disease, you can take my arm Clary." Jace joked when he saw her hesitancy to take it.

Quickly, she looped her arm into his and leaned her head on it as well.

"Thank you so much for doing this, I appreciate it." Clary said with gratitude.

"It's no big deal, you look beautiful Clary." He said and looked at her with adoration. Suddenly, Clary thought back to Spranger's painting. She felt like Aphrodite hanging on to Adonis and Adonis was looking at her with adoration. For that moment, she did feel beautiful and God help her–loved.

"Thanks Jace, you look handsome." She returned the compliment and saw that the bow tie was becoming crooked. Unhooking her arm from his, she turned to stand in front of him and adjusted it so that it was straight. Jace took this moment to admire her and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She was an angel and he wished that he wasn't drunk the first night he met her–actually he wished she never saw him drunk. Then maybe he'd feel good enough for her to be her friend or in another life: her lover.

They began making their way to the elevator with their arms looped and both looking straight forward but smiling on the inside.

"I need to tell you something." Clary suddenly said as the elevator dinged to the lobby.

Jace had an ounce of hope that maybe she would want him to kiss her or pretend to be her boyfriend at the dinner again, but something unexpected came out.

"There's this guy at the dinner and I hate him." Clary began but Jace interrupted.

"Ex-boyfriend?" He felt jealousy stream through his body but the moment he reminded himself that they were just friends, the envy remained at bay.

"Oh God no! Never really been with anyone officially but uh, he stole my first kiss at one of the company dinners years ago. He is...I have no words for him. He's one of my father's right hand men so just stay close with me please." She was begging him to protect her was what Jace got out of it but he hated the fact that a slimy old man that supposedly had her father's trust took advantage of her. It made him angry, though was he really that different the night he met her?

Bending his head down, he was mere inches away from touching her lips with his. Jace restrained himself for kissing her and told her,

"I'll hold your hand throughout okay? He won't get to you; not on my watch."

Feeling a sense of safety, Clary smiled and quickly pecked Jace on the nose. The scent of candy filled his nostrils as she pulled away.

"Thank you Jace and I hope you didn't mind that, it's okay right?" She referred to kiss and flushed a light pink from shyness.

Pressing his lips to her forehead, he murmured,

"It's more than okay." This caused Clary to have the butterflies in her stomach awaken and flutter their way into her heart.

* * *

At the dinner, Emil Pangborn felt excitement surge through his veins when he found out that Clarissa Morgenstern would be there tonight. He was early and left his wife at home to watch the child of his mistress. He had no regrets whatsoever with the women he had dominated.

His new quest though, was to land the virgin daughter of his boss. Sure, he hadn't seen her in years but he knew in his drunken haze a few years ago that she would fill out.

"I heard Clarissa would be here tonight." One of the company shareholders said.

"She hasn't shown up in years; not since that Christmas party." Another responded and continued to speak, "I heard she brought a date and it isn't rat boy either."

These words caused Emil to clench around his glass of whiskey tightly. _A date? Well we'll just have to see if he can get through me. _He thought with annoyance, though there was something about it that made him want Clary even more. She was already a challenge considering she was Valentine's daughter, but this, this made him want to fuck the virgin until she bled and moaned his name.

Time ticked slowly as he anticipated the arrival of Clarissa and her date. Emil began to grow frustrated, that is until he heard a light laughter that echoed through the entire dinner hall.

She was here. He grinned at the sight of the dress that very well accentuated her breasts and the heels that made her legs seem to go for miles. Emil's eyes flashed over to who baby Morgenstern had on her arm.

It was a Wayland. He thought that their line had already been cut off when the Wayland household had burned down to ground. Emil had had a taste of Celine before she was even married. Though she was against the whole idea of sex before marriage, he had convinced her...just with the help of a small pill. It would be the same for baby Morgenstern who wasn't exactly a baby anymore.

Jace had made fun of one of the old women ogling at him when Clary saw that she was skimming him up and down and the old woman's gaze had rested on his groin.

They had chimed in with laughter and received odd looks from almost every person in the room.

"She looks just like her mother, hopefully she won't act like her; poor woman went crazy. At least, that's what Valentine told me." A woman whispered not so quietly, allowing both Clary and Jace to hear.

Clary's breath hitched at hearing this and her face paled when she saw the woman's face. It was Lillith.

Lillith was her childhood nanny whom she discovered later on that she had an affair with her father, creating a deep crack in her parent's marriage. Clary had walked in on them when she was twelve and her father had slapped her to keep her quiet. It was appalling to see Lillith and Valentine together, but Clary knew they made a great match considering that they were both heartless and vain.

"Are you okay?" Jace asked as Clary stared out into the distance.

"No..."

"We can leave if you want, I can even take you to get a little duckling as evil as those buggers are." Jace suggested, in their cab ride, he had discovered that ducklings were one of her favourite birds and had always wanted one as a pet. He despised them though, since he had dropped his mango when he was six and the fuckers gobbled it up. Jace was scarred for life.

"We don't need to leave and you'll really get me a duckling?" Her voice seemed to be back to normal and her doe eyes were gleaming with excitement.

At that point, Jace would do anything to see her like this-like she was alive. He wanted to say yes immediately but was interrupted when a man in his late fifties had tapped his hand on her shoulder.

"Clarissa, my, my, my hasn't it been a long time!" The man's smile was sly and he felt Clary lean in closer to Jace.

"Yes it has and I intend to keep it that way once again after this event." Clary spoke in a monotone voice, completely uninterested in what the man had to say. Jace felt an itch that this was the man who stole her first kiss, it made him want to kiss her and let the sly man know that Clary didn't belong in his slimy, old fingers.

"Darling, how about we find your father, I'd like to introduce myself to him." Jace drawled out in a seductive tone which made the hairs on Clary's arm rise along with goosebumps.

"Yes, that would be proper. Good bye Mr. Pangborn." And they spun on their heels, leaving Emil stunned to what had happened.

"Where is your father by the way?" Jace asked as they walked as far away from Emil Pangborn as possible.

"Probably yelling at the servants; it's what he does when he's frustrated. This dinner is apparently important to him, but then again everything is but his own family." She said it bitterly, in a way that Jace almost didn't recognize that it was her talking.

"Would it be completely wrong to pretend to be your boyfriend while that guy is around you? I don't like the chills he sends off." Jace asked, hoping that she'd say yes.

"Well that's him, what he can't have, he wants. And I'm what he can't have, doing that would just make him want me more." Clary had refused Jace's proposal but inside, she had wanted to.

_Just friends. _She had to keep telling herself that to stay sane. Clary wanted to take off Jace's bow tie with her teeth and let him take her, but those were dirty thoughts and she refused to commit any further sins that could harm someone.

"Well, just so you know, you can snag a kiss from me anytime to let him know that you'll never be his." Jace said in all seriousness and Clary looked up into his eyes, getting lost in his golden pools that looked like caramel. She saw Adonis and Aphrodite again through her mind, maybe one kiss wouldn't matter? As she leaned in, her hands came up to graze Jace's cheek, and she slowly went closer until they both closed their eyes. Just one more inch and they'd be feeling the softness of each other's lips, but the dinging of a fork on a champagne glass broke them apart.

"Good evening, if I could have your attention." Valentine spoke from a podium and received the attention of all the patrons in the room. "This is the 20th annual company dinner, let me begin with a bit of the company's history..." Clary heard this speech several times being that it was the same speech every year.

Yet, everyone focused their attention on Valentine Morgenstern. Clary rolled her eyes as Valentine began the fake tears of success and everyone roared in applause.

"I will never get it. It is the same speech every year..." Clary muttered to herself and Jace chuckled beside her.

"I'd like to end the opening ceremony with a few words dedicated to my deceased son, Jonathan Morgenstern." It seemed as if all the air in her body had left, she stood there stunned as her father continued the speech.

"I remembered that one day, the little boy had picked up flowers in the park and decided to mesh it with honey. As repulsive as the product looked, it smelled heavenly. People have asked me where Iratze had came from and this is the first time I have told the story of our number one seller. Jonathan was my favourite thing in the world; he was driven, hard working, and innovative. To Jonathan." Valentine said finally and raised his champagne glass to the crowd and took a sip.

"To Jonathan." Clary whispered and Jace looked to see if she was okay. He saw that she stood frozen; not blinking even just staring into blank space.

"Clary?" Jace asked in a kid like voice and turned to place her in a hug, but she was stiff-almost emotionless but she spoke.

"I'm okay, I've been okay for years." She lied not only to Jace but to herself too.

"I can tell that you're not, do you want to get out of here?" Jace murmured in her hair but he felt the shaking of head and pulled away to hear her speak.

"Don't worry, I can get through this. Just please, stay with me."

Clary remembered the Christmas dinner and how she had cried to Jonathan after what Mr. Pangborn had done. She remembered him angry and vowing to destroy that man.

"I think the dinner is starting, how about we sit down?" Jace suggested and she gave a nod, lacing her hands through his.

When they sat down, Valentine came over to greet them.

"Clarissa, I see that you have made it." He gave her a pleased smile and switched his eyes over to Jace.

"And what is your name?" He drawled out.

"Jace. Jace Wayland." Jace took his hand to offer a shake to Valentine and Valentine took it gladly.

"And your parents happen to be Celine and Michael Wayland?" Valentine asked with a gleam in his eyes, Michael was one of his biggest investors in the company and when they had died, their son had pulled out of everything and kept the money to himself.

"Yes." Jace gave this one word answer, but Valentine had expected more.

"Well, I'm glad to know that my daughter is safe with you."

"And I'm glad I have your approval." Jace said sarcastically but Valentine didn't notice, he only gave them a fake a smile and bid them a good night.

"That was intense." Clary finally said with a smile.

His lips curved so that his dimples shown, Jace was finally happy to see that she was smiling.

"I used to play with your brother you know? I just never knew that you were his sister, you guys look–"

"Nothing alike I know." Clary finished his sentence and looked somber again.

"He was kind to me, and he would hate that you weren't being kind to yourself." Jace said and pecked his lips on her temple.

Clary had never thought of it that way and no one had ever told her. She had blamed herself for the longest time and never let it go. She was glad that someone genuinely told her that Jonathan was a good person and that someone wasn't scared to talk about it with her. Simon had always left it as a sensitive topic and gave her space, but what she needed wasn't space. Not anymore at least.

"Thank you." Clary said and the waiters began to serve the food.

The night went on as dinner finished and the formal dance had started. Somehow, Jace knew exactly what to say to her father's business associates. He knew when to make them laugh and knew how to answer and ask questions. Jace was absolutely natural at this and at the end, her father expressed his interest in Jace and gave him his business card.

"I can't believe my dad actually likes you." Clary sniggered into Jace's chest as they slow danced.

"I can, I also have this theory that he wants to take me up against the wall and take the money out of my pockets." Jace joked, he saw that Valentine wanted to do business with him, but Jace was not his father; he had no interest in business. "Wait a minute, did you think he was going to hate my guts?" Jace asked with mock hurt.

Clary chimed with laughter and nodded her head,

"You don't exactly look pure and virginal like his daughter Jace."

"That's because you don't look pure, you _are _pure. And who knows, maybe his daughter won't be so pure after tonight." Jace whispered in her ear and it sent shiver down her spine.

"What do you mean?" She breathed.

"It means that I think I'm over her and I'm going to chase you." Jace admit and Clary was stunned but the shock was soon replaced with anger.

"Well maybe you should be sure that you're over her first before you "chase" me." Clary hissed and walked away from Jace. She rushed away angrily to the powder room, refusing to be around anyone.

Splashing water on her face, the makeup she had put on earlier at quickly began to disappear and smear. She decided to get rid of all the junk on her face and continued to clean it. She felt pure and calm at that point.

Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, she turned around only to be met with a "hello".

"I'm really not in the mood to discuss anything Mr. Pangborn, I have to get back to Jace." Clary said with distaste and annoyance. "And if you haven't noticed, this is the ladies' powder room so I suggest you leave before I call security on you."

Emil tutted at Clary's behaviour and leaned in closer to her, she smelled whiskey on the tip of his tongue as he spoke.

"Clarissa, why must you be so uncivil? The quicker we get this over with, the quicker you will have your freedom."

"Get what over with?" All the calmness in her body had left and it was replaced with frustration. Emil crashed his lips onto hers and she forcefully pushed him away and ran. She had no time to cry or burst into tears, all she could do was call out his name.

"JACE! JACE!" She was stumbling on her heels with Emil grabbing at her waist violently. He cupped a piece of cloth over her mouth and the last thing she saw was gold before she fell to the ground.

* * *

There were monitors beeping all around the room when her eyes fluttered open. Clary saw Jace sitting in the chair beside her, nursing a bruised jaw with an ice pack.

"You're awake." Was all he said before he pressed his lips on her forehead.

"What happened?"

"He ran away after you fainted and he punched my jaw. People were asking questions and your father…" Jace explained but trailed away into silence when he realized he had said something wrong.

"My father what?" Clary asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"Well I don't know, he's actually waiting outside right now. Do you want me to bring him in?" Jace asked with sorrow in his eyes.

"I guess." And Jace walked out to retrieve her father. Valentine's hair was not sleek or shaped; it was disheveled.

"Clarissa, I was so scared I lost another child. What happened?" Valentine asked with worry lines forming on his forehead. It seemed like he actually cared about her, the last time he had cared about her was when she had fell out of a tree and broke her leg.

"It was nothing...I don't know." Clary's breath hitched, she didn't want to tell her dad what had happened, but something pushed her to keep talking. "Mr. Pangborn came into the powder room drunk and he tried to sexually assault me and the next thing I know I'm here."

"Well I believe Emil wouldn't do something like this." Valentine stated. Clary couldn't believe it, her father didn't believe her.

"You know that this isn't the first time right?" Clary exclaimed incredulously, "The last dinner I went to, he kissed me under the mistletoe and he was drunk again. It might not mean anything to you dad, but it meant something to Jonathan and Jonathan wouldn't have let this happen and he would have believed me! So get out and I don't want to ever see you again!" She was met with a crack on her cheek and Jace quickly rushed to her side.

"Don't hit her or so help me God I will not hold back." Jace said in a lethal tone and Valentine left.

No good bye and no apologies–Clary knew that this was the last time she would see her dad and he wouldn't come back for anything. He didn't believe her and this was when Clary felt like she had truly lost everyone in her family.

A rush of tears came out and sob broke through the room. Jace only held her tightly as she cried into the curve of his neck.

"I have no one." Clary cried and Jace felt her pain. It bit at his throat and clenched at his chest to see her in pain.

"You have me." His voice broke as he said this and kissed her eyelids. "You have me, Clary." He repeated and patted her hair as she cried harder and harder.

Of all the people in the world, Jace felt like God had to punish his angel. He silently did a prayer for God to take away her hurt and for that hurt to be placed on him instead. If he hadn't said those words to Clary, she wouldn't have taken off and she wouldn't have to be here. Jace blamed himself for the events that transpired tonight, but above all, he blamed Emil Pangborn and vowed to keep the bastard away from her.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well snap, crackle, pop, I have one last exam on Monday and then I am officially a free bird. Give me your thoughts on this chapter, pleaseeee, I beg you, haha. I should be studying right now so, shoot me a review!

Tell me if you're going to watch Divergent or if you like the CoHF cover because I think it is amazing.

Until next time!

-Ry


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Once Clary had been discharged from the hospital, she hadn't gone back to her apartment but instead Jace brought her back to his place.

He tucked her into his bed and left the room with one last glance. Clary had been crying from the hospital to when she fell asleep in the cab. Even now, Jace saw the dry tears leaving an angry stain on her porcelain skin.

That night, Jace slept on the sofa but didn't sleep. He was glad that tomorrow was Saturday and he could stay in to hang out with her.

Twisting and turning, he groaned at the knot in his lower back from sleeping on the damned sofa. He would have to call in for a new bed in the second room in case Clary ever stayed over.

He didn't understand his feelings at all though. One moment they were friends and then the next, he wanted to fuck her and claim her as his girlfriend that no one else could touch. Jace felt as if he stole one of God's angels and now God was punishing him and her. Thinking back to Kaelie, he thought of how he had found out of the affair.

_It was the night of his 22nd birthday and they had all gone out drinking. However, Sebastian was the designated driver that night and Kaelie refused to drink. But out of nowhere, she claimed to have a headache and asked Sebastian to take her to Jace's apartment. Of course, Jace didn't want her to get hurt or anything-he loved her so much. _

_When he got home, he stumbled into his room only to find his fiancée underneath his best friend begging to have it harder. Jace pushed Sebastian off and repetitively punched him in the face. _

_"What the fuck Sebastian?!" He roared and Kaelie quickly got dressed and rolled out of bed to help Sebastian._

_"Jace, calm down." Kaelie started but Jace was flaming with anger and refused to listen to their pathetic excuses._

_"Calm down?! My best friend and my fiancée are fucking each other's brains out and you want me to calm down. I love you Kaelie and you know that!" Jace exclaimed and then pointed to Sebastian, "And I trusted you; you were like my brother but now you're dead to me. Both if you get the fuck out of my home." He spat out and Kaelie quickly helped Sebastian up, neither apologizing to Jace. _

_The last thing he remembered of that night was drinking even more until he couldn't bring the bottle to his lips anymore. _

Jace shuddered at this memory; he had truly wasted two month of his life on alcohol. Every time he remembered that night though, he would drink, but tonight he didn't. Somehow, sleep had found its way to his body and gave him rest.

As the night passed on, Jace was woken by the soft padding of feet and sniffles from the kitchen. A small light shone and Jace got up to see his redheaded angel opening the fridge to retrieve ice cream.

"Clary? What are you doing?" Jace said through a tired voice and she remained docile.

"Eating ice cream makes me feel better." She replied shyly and opened the tub.

"Do you need a bowl or do you want to eat straight out of the tub?" He asked, it wasn't like he ate the ice cream, he needed to keep his figure. The ice cream...it was left there when Kaelie decided to put some fun into their sex life.

"You don't mind if I eat out of the tub?" Clary asked. She seemed fragile at that point and even if she had asked to destroy his designer shirts, Jace would have let her.

"Go for it." Jace shrugged and began to walk back to the sofa to sleep. He didn't notice that Clary had sat beside him and ate her ice cream there.

"Do you wanna eat it with me Jace? I'm gonna get fat." Clary offered and Jace awoke once again.

"Sure." He gave a tired smile and went to get a spoon.

They began eating the creamy dessert together, taking turns with the tub. They ate until Clary set the tub down and laid on Jace's chest.

"Will you hold me Jace? My brother used to hold me until I fell asleep when I got sad." Clary asked and Jace knew at that point that she saw him as only a brother, but he smiled instead and said,

"I don't think this sofa is big enough for the two of us, let's go to bed okay?"

She only nodded and pulled on his wrist, dragging him into the bedroom. Slipping into the covers, Jace curved his body into Clary's back and draped his arm over her waist. Soon, the two were fast asleep and while one dreamt of making love to his angel, the other dreamt of being happy with the boy that was holding her.

* * *

Sunlight filled the room and Clary woke to a weight around her waist and a body pressed up against her back. She turned to wake Jace up but he only stirred and groaned and gripped his arm tighter around her.

They were now fully pressed up against one another and Clary was only an inch away from meeting his lips, that is until his eyes opened. Jace's grip hadn't loosened at all though, he only stared at her and she stared back.

"Jace..." She breathed out and he pressed his lips on hers. He moved slowly against them, the kiss wasn't like the first night they met; it wasn't desperate or rough but soft. Clary felt herself closing her eyes and giving in. She kissed him back at the same pace he did and he let out a groan from his throat.

At that moment, Jace knew that Clary didn't see him as a brother; he just needed to prove that. His main focus was her; it was to hold her and protect her. Once he broke away, Clary's opened and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Suddenly, Jace straddled her and lowered his head so that his lips were near her ear.

"Do you like me Clary?" He whispered and she turned a light pink.

"Jace, you should get off." Clary avoided his question but he didn't budge.

"Because I like you a lot." He continued and began to trail his lips across her neck.

"You're not over Kaelie, we're friends Jace. Friends don't kiss each other." His lips left a buzz on her skin though, and as much as Clary didn't want to stop, she knew she needed him to stop. Jace's lips were now at the line of her jaw and his stubble had lightly grazed her.

"Trust me, I am. I have to move on right? So that person should be you." He stated and Clary quickly pushed at his chest.

"I'm not a rebound girl Jace."

"I never said you were." Jace exclaimed and placed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I think I should go Jace." Clary rolled off the bed and grabbed the dress from last night off the floor.

"Clary, wait-" Jace said but she was already out the door. A part of him felt bad that he had done that to Clary-making her feel like a rebound-but the other part of him didn't regret any of the affection he had given her.

Picking up his phone, he Googled the closest pet shop and ended up in a shop called The Praetor Lupus. There, Jace stood before a glass of furry, yellow _things. _

"Blasted buggers." He muttered to himself and built up the courage to ask the store owner to put it in a box with breathing holes.

After, he even looked around to get the proper pet supplies for the little duckling. He couldn't believe what he was doing. Jace loathed ducks and couldn't even eat mangoes after the incident. Hearing a small quack from the box, Jace cringed on the inside. If Clary was going to raise a bloody duck, then so be it, he just wanted her back.

Now, he stood in front of her apartment door and rapped on it a couple of times. When the door opened a sliver, it was immediately shut again with a shout of,

"Go away Jace! I don't want to see you right now."

He was hurt at her words, maybe his angel didn't even want to be friends anymore.

"Come on Clary, please?" He begged and he heard a sigh from the other side.

"Not right now." She called but he didn't give up.

"I have something really important; I swear to God it's life or death."

Once Clary cracked the door wide open, Jace immediately rushed out with an apology.

"Clary, I'm sorry if I made you feel like a rebound, you're not okay? You're an amazing friend and I guess I just wanted you so bad to be mine but if you don't want that then we'll just be friends. I'm so sorry Clary, I won't ever kiss you again."

His last sentence stung Clary a bit but she remained collected. _I won't ever kiss you again. _But she did want him to kiss her again, she wanted to give herself to him but it was always her instinct to push people away.

"Okay..." Was all she let out before a quack came from the box was holding.

"You didn't!" Clary exclaimed suddenly with a smile and Jace only gave an answer with a smirk. "Oh my goodness! You did!"

"Do I get a hug?" Jace opened his arms wide and handed Clary her duckling.

"Yes!" She shouted and immediately jumped into his arms and hugged him tight. Jace savored this moment with Clary because it would probably be the only intimate thing he could do with her.

"He is sooo cute!" Clary cooed at the duckling and Jace cringed, backing away from the demonic creature.

"I will never understand..." Was all he said before Clary held the bird up to his face. He jumped and let out a yelp. How could he like a girl that enjoyed torturing him with his worst fear?

Clary giggled and pulled it back to her chest; cradling it.

"What should I name him?"

"Who says it's a him?"

"It's a him Jace." Clary told him in a tone of a know it all and she grinned. "Maybe I should name it Jace Jr."

"No Clary, you can't take that name." He said smirking.

"And why is that?" She challenged only for his smirk to grow wider and he looked down to where his junk was.

"Because that's what I call my dick Clary." Clary's jaw dropped and he howled in laughter, clutching his stomach as he tried to hold in his tears from laughing.

"Are you serious?" Clary exclaimed and her face grew tomato red as Jace continued to laugh.

"I'm dead serious. The first time I got an erection, I ran to my dad and asked him what it was and he told me Jace Jr. wanted sex." Jace explained in a dead serious tone, though his eyes were still gleaming with joy.

"I see that you and your father were alike in terms of frankness." Clary stated and shook her head, petting the duck.

"You should name him Beelzebub."

"Isn't Beelzebub the demon?" Clary asked appalled and Jace smirked. "Jace! I'm not going to name my baby after a demon."

"Then what are you going to name it?"

"Adonis."

"The _thing_ doesn't look a like the Greek god of beauty!" Jace shouted and it was now Clary's turn to smirk. "I look like Adonis except I'm still better looking."

Clary was glad that Jace noticed the resemblance though she replied with,

"Are you sure you're not Narcissus?" She was referring to the the God who fell in love with his own reflection.

"There is nothing wrong with noticing that you're beautiful."

"Then I'm sure there's nothing wrong with naming my _beautiful _new duckling Adonis." Clary retorted and grinned.

"You know that when that thing starts shitting all over your house and growing to be larger than life, you're going to have to set it free." Jace pointed out when Clary kneeled down and began feeding Adonis crumbs of bread.

"Yeah…" She gave a sad smile towards the little duckling and her heart clenched. _Why do all good things leave? _She asked herself and shook her head. "Maybe you should just bring it back to the store Jace…"

"What? Why? I thought you liked him." Jace asked perplexed.

"I do, I really do, but he doesn't belong here and I don't have time to take care of him and I never really thought it through." Clary explained, no matter how much she wanted to keep Adonis, she absolutely couldn't.

Jace became silent, he could tell that she didn't want to let him go but she was right. The ugly, little bugger didn't belong in a cramped apartment; it should have stayed in a pond or something.

"All right." Was all he said and he picked up the bird without cringing or fear that it was going to bite him. The little thing only quacked repetitively when Jace picked him up; it had already formed an attachment to his angel. Jace saw the sad expression Clary held and he kneeled down on one knee.

"Hey, I could get you a puppy?" He offered and she shook her head.

"You don't have to get me anything Jace, I can't take care of things."

"You took care of me, didn't you?" Jace said and put down Adonis and surrounded his arms around her.

"Jace, we're friends aren't we?" Clary murmured and his sped up. He wanted badly to say that he didn't want to be friends and that he wanted more but he couldn't ask for that.

"Yeah." That was all he could manage and she felt confused now. Why had he kissed her then? He says one thing and says another; does one thing and does another.

"Good." And she pulled away.

He wanted to scream at her to how he couldn't be friends with her without thinking of the ways he wanted to fuck her, but he couldn't because he would only scare her away. As Jace picked up Adonis, he found that she was on the phone and he quietly slipped away into Central Park and set the bird free.

At this moment, Jace felt like he had set free of his past and he had a clean slate. He was over _her_, over _him_, and over the bitter, burning liquid called alcohol.

* * *

"Isabelle, I'm not dating him." Clary said in a tired tone. Simon and Isabelle met up with her at Chocolat du Mort–Chocolate of Death; it was chocolate dessert café.

"There is a photo of you two slow dancing!" Isabelle hissed. Isabelle wanted answers, she hated not knowing what was going on.

"Isabelle, honey, I think you need to calm down and let Clary talk." Simon said and patted her back.

"He was my date there. That's it! We're _friends. _He doesn't want anything from me; he made it pretty clear." Clary explained. She was glad that the café was full of chatter and that no one could hear them.

"But the thing is, do _you _want more?" Isabelle asked in a strict tone and Clary shook her head.

"He doesn't see me that way." She lied, thinking about the way he had kissed her this morning and how great he had made her feel.

"So you do want more?" Isabelle asked with eyebrows raised and a grin forming.

"No, I don't. Our friendship is mutual and both of us are happy with it." Clary stated and Isabelle gave her a frown.

Before Isabelle could start speaking again, Simon cut in and said,  
"Isabelle, I think this is enough." He received an eye roll and Isabelle crossed her arms, pouting.

"Fine, I have one friend that's interested in blind dating and since you haven't been on date in eons, I'm insisting that you go." Isabelle said and Clary shook her head. _I've never been on an actual date in my life and you expect me to go on a blind date?! _Clary thought and contemplated on running out the door.

"I don't do strangers."

"But you'd do Jace." She stated in a challenge sort of way and Clary rolled her eyes.

"I'm not getting out of this am I?" Clary asked and Isabelle grinned.

"No, you're not."

"Okay, when is it?"

"Tonight, 7 PM."

Clary's eyes bulged as she nearly jumped out of her chair though she choked on her chocolate cake which restrained her from strangling Isabelle. It really was chocolate of death.

"Where?!" She practically yelled and Simon placed his index finger on her lips, signaling her to be quiet. Slapping away Simon's hand, she glared at Isabelle.

"Chill Clary, it's not like I gave him your address. His name's Raphael Santiago and he's taking you to a dinner and a movie. It's simple." Isabelle stated in a completely cool tone, as if going on a date with a stranger was the most normal thing in the world.

Looking at Simon, Clary saw that he had the facial expression of, "I tried to talk her out of this but it's Isabelle" and so all he could do was shrug.

"Is there a dress code?" Was the last thing Clary said before Isabelle smirked with a devilish gleam in her eyes.

"I am going to make you hot."

* * *

Clary concluded that Isabelle dressed her like her a whore. Even her eyebrows looked like that of a whore and they were eyebrows. Isabelle had forced her into a black dress that barely went past her butt and showed mass amounts of cleavage. The only part of the battle Clary had won was that she could wear a black lace bandeau underneath.

Her hair had been clipped up so that she looked somewhat formal instead of slutty. She was sure that Isabelle didn't understand the simplicity of dinner and a movie.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Clary went to open it as she was placing on her heels. Isabelle asked who it was and Clary stood silent.

"You going somewhere?" Jace drawled out with a smile. He was skimming her up and down until he met her eyes again, waiting for a response.

Clary was stunned; she didn't know what to say. When Isabelle felt like the response to her question took too long, she'd decided to go out and check.

"What's Jace doing here? Doesn't he know you have a date?" Isabelle asked Clary. Isabelle was acting though, she wanted to see if Jace would show any emotion towards this fact and she got her answer when he saw a flash of anger in his eyes.

"A date?" Was all Jace could manage. At first, he thought the little outfit was sexy and fun but now, he felt sick to his stomach. Some guy was going to see her in this all night and that guy wasn't going to be him.

"Yeah, Isabelle set me up on a date." Clary said and she felt her heart crackling a bit on the inside when she said those words.

"Oh."

"Yeah...so if you're not going to help, can you please leave." Isabelle asked, breaking the awkwardness and began to close the door but Clary stopped her.

"Can I talk to him alone Iz?" Clary asked and Isabelle turned on her heel back to Clary's bedroom.

"So you're going out on a date with someone you don't know I'm assuming." Jace stated in a clipped tone and Clary could only nod.

"It's honestly just dinner and a movie." Clary said trying to soften the situation but it didn't help that she kept thinking about the kiss this morning.

"I thought we could hang out tonight but I'll leave. Have fun Clary." He said and turned to leave but Clary held his wrist.

"We're friends right?" Clary asked and Jace scoffed.

"Yes, we're _friends._" Jace spat as if it was the worst thing in the world and shook his head. _The kiss meant nothing to her and it should mean nothing to you. Get over yourself, not every girl wants you; Just the ones you want will leave you. _Jace said in his head and left, not allowing Clary to say anything else.

"He doesn't want to be friends you know?" Isabelle stated from the frame of Clary's room, picking at her perfectly manicured nails.

"Trust me he does." Clary said and nudged past Isabelle to retrieve her purse.

"You're going to have the shittiest date of your life knowing that loverboy needs a companion tonight and you would have so much more fun with him."

"Isabelle, you set me up on this so I can't just stand him up."

"I would go after him." Isabelle sang and left Clary's apartment.

Pushing all thoughts of Jace away, she shortly left after Isabelle and hailed a cab to the restaurant that she was meeting Raphael at.

She decided that she was going to have the best date of her life and that Jace was just her friend.

When she walked into the restaurant, a server greeted her and she gave her blind date's name. The server led her to a table with a handsome dark haired man.

"Hi, you must be Clary." He said with a bit of a Spanish accent.

"Yes I am and you're Raphael." She stated and he nodded.

"Yes, that is me, so tell me how you know Isabelle." He asked but looked completely uninterested.

"I'm best friends with her boyfriend."

"That's great."

Clary immediately decided that he was boring but she kept trying.

"So what do you do for a living? Are you in NYU? I'm assuming that's how you met Isabelle." Clary asked in an animated tone but he still looked bored.

"I am in medicine with Isabelle yes and I don't work, my parents fund everything. They are Spanish blue bloods." He said in a pompous tone and it took all of Clary's power to not throw her water at him. "I met Isabelle at a party; she was a one night stand and now we're friends."

It was as if he didn't have a filter when he spoke about himself, but he was completely bored when she talked about her life. He didn't actually care about her until she had slipped out that she was at her father's dinner yesterday.

Suddenly, he was completely engrossed in her words until she said that she was not close with Valentine, he returned to his boring, stoic expression.

Isabelle was right; this was the worst date of life. When dinner ended, Clary feigned food poisoning and asked him to hail a cab for her. Raphael had even had the nerve to ask her on a second date. Though she had started making sounds that anyone would assume she was in labour. She was glad that she opted out of the movie since he was going to take her to a documentary about shark cannibalism.

As she entered her apartment, she found a note attached to the door with it saying,

_"I'm sorry. Call me? -J"_ Clary heart fluttered a bit as she dialled his number only for it to go to voicemail. Immediately, Clary assumed that something bad happened to Jace and she took a cab to his place.

When she got there, she found that his door was left wide open and she ran to his bedroom to see if he was there. But the only thing she saw, was a girl sitting on the edge of his bed putting her dress back on. Clary's dropped and her breath halted and she didn't blink.

"Who are you?" The girl sneered and zipped up her dress.

"I'm Jace's friend." Clary couldn't say anything else and the girl smirked at her.

"If that's code for fuck buddy, you don't need to be subtle with me."

"I'm sorry, I'm not, I'm honestly just his friend." Clary felt like she wanted to cry when her heart clenched. It was like someone was sucking away her air supply and someone had kicked her heart.

"Well I'm Aline, been sleeping with him before his fiancée came in and when she went out of the picture. Though, the last thing I remembered was she was blonde." Aline analyzed the red head up and down; she knew she wasn't Kaelie.

"You're Sebastian's cousin..." Clary trailed off and Aline nodded. Aline opened her mouth to say something else until Jace emerged into the room with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Clary?!" He said in a state of panic. She wasn't supposed to see this, he had told her he wasn't going to see Aline anymore and he had immediately went against his own word.

Clary saw the guilt and panic on his face and the pain hit her even harder. She knew she would have to leave right now or she would combust. She wasn't his girlfriend and he wasn't her boyfriend; she had no right to feel this way.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on your date?" Jace questioned and she only shook her head and walked past him. He quickly grabbed her wrist in which by reflex she threw away and stomped out the door.

When she got into the elevator, she began to cry. Clary truly thought something bad had happened to Jace, only to discover that it was a lie. She had no right to be upset but she was. Quickly, she speed dialled the number 2. Simon had entered himself as speed dial the moment she had purchased a phone and he quickly picked up.

"Hey Clary, aren't you supposed to be on your date?" He greeted and she heard the feminine laughter of Isabelle.

No way was she going to ruin their night, so she hung up and bit down on her bottom lip, trying to hold down the tears. The elevator dinged and she walked out of the building.

This wasn't going to be one of those movies where the guy chases after the girl. Clary waited for a cab to come but none would show. Simon was now calling her like crazy but she refused to pick up.

_Hey Clary, are you all right? -S_

**Yeah, accidentally butt dialled you. Sorry. -C**

_Okay, have a good night, you deserve it :) -S_

Clary scoffed at this text as a cab came, she went in immediately with tears now dried and her eyes puffy.

_I deserve all the pain in the world. _She thought to herself as the cab drove to the nearest bar. For the first time in her life, she was going to get wasted.

"What do you recommend?" Clary asked the bartender. She didn't know anything about drinks.

"Sex on the Beach." He said with a wink and Clary rolled her eyes.

"Whatever it is, I'll take it." And she slapped down her bills.

She downed drink quickly and still had it burn at the back of her throat. Scrunching up her face, she ordered another and then a Cosmopolitan. By her fifth drink, Clary was laughing to herself.

When she tried to order another, the bartender had been switched and he didn't let order anymore. This caused her to throw a fit and start crying again.

"Ma'am do you have a phone so I can call one of your friends to pick you up?" The bartender asked and she threw her phone at him.

"Don't call Simon, don't call Isabelle, and don't call Jace. I don't wanna see any of them." She cried and tried to get off her stool but stumbled and fell on her bottom.

The bartender saw that the only person left on the phone was Maia and Jonathan, when he called Jonathan, it was sent to voicemail. He tried Maia and she greeted with,

"Finally want me to hook you up with someone?"

"Hi, your friend's at Hunter's Moon right now and she is very drunk. Is it all right if I ask you to pick her up?"

"Ugh, but she's supposed to be the responsible one with the constant stick of dynamite up her ass. I'll be there in ten." Maia groaned and hung up.

"Can I have my phone back?" Clary asked from the floor and the bartender went around to help her get up.

"Here." He said as he handed her phone back.

"I need to call Jonathan." She slurred and went through her contacts to hear his voicemail.

"Your friend isn't home."

"Of course he isn't home, he's dead. I just pay for his phone every month just to hear his voicemail. You must think I'm crazy." Clary laughed and began to sob.

"I'm Jordan okay, and your friend is coming soon." The bartender said and patted her on the back. He never really knew how to comfort women but his mom had taught him to just pat them on the back. It seemed to do the trick every time but this time.

"Did you call Maia? She'll want to have sex with you before she leaves. She sleeps with everyone-boys, girls, the in betweens." Clary droned and that was when Maia came in.

"I don't sleep with everyone, just the hot ones." Maia said and glanced at Jordan.

"You should take her home." Jordan said, he didn't even seem to be fazed by her attire or her attitude.

"Can you help me get her into the car?" Maia twirled at her hair and gave a flirty smile but Jordan didn't budge.

"You look strong, I'm sure you could handle it. I have to get back to work." Jordan stated differently and Maia scoffed.

"Asshole." And she picked up Clary no problem, slinging her behind her back like a fireman.

As Maia drove, she made sure that Clary had a garbage can in front of her in case she threw up.

"You are such a lightweight." Maia said as Clary heaved into the circular container.

"I'm sorry Maia." Clary said in between breaths and Maia waved it off.

"You'd do the same for me, but that bartender was hot as hell, I am going to bang his brains out the next time I see him."

When they got out the car, Clary threw up on the sidewalk and Maia picked at her nails patiently as if this was something was used to.

She helped Clary up to her apartment and placed her in Clary's bedroom. Maia didn't even look tired; Like Jordan

"Just get some sleep, I have a shift tomorrow hon." Maia said and left, clicking the door shut.

Even through her drunken state, Clary could still feel the flashes of pain running through her body when she had seen Aline in Jace's bedroom. She didn't want to cry over someone who didn't actually have feelings for her though it still hurt. Tears began flow out of her eyes and they just wouldn't stop; even in her sleep she was still crying. Clarissa Morgenstern had never cried over a boy that she liked and this was the first time.

When morning came, she didn't even get out of bed, only holding her cellphone to her ear and calling her brother's phone.

"Hey this Jonathan, I'm not here right now; I'm living life to the fullest." He chuckled in his voicemail and continued, "Leave a message, I probably won't listen to it unless you're Clary. Sucks to be you if you aren't." He let out one last chuckle before the voicemail ended. Clary called her brother's phone over and over, she just wanted to hear his voice because it had always made her feel better. Ignoring all the texts on her phone, she kept calling until she fell asleep once again and this time she dreamt of Jace kissing her like he did yesterday.

* * *

Author's Note: So I've decided that updates should be every Friday, it gives me time to write the next chapter efficiently without missing chapters for months. Things are gonna get hot and spicy in the next chapter but sucks that you guys have to wait another week. Hahahahahahaha *hides* But yes! Shoot me a review about this chapter and what you think might happen in the next one! :)

To the guest reviewer who calls Valentine, Valenslime, I love you haha. You asked if Pangborn had to do with Jonathan's death. He has everything and anything to do with the deaths that occur. You'll just have to keep reading to find out. :)

P.S. Did anyone see the The Fault in our Stars trailer? Because ohmygod, I watched it over and over and I cried each time!

Until next week!

–Ry


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Jace called her over and over everyday for a month. He had become more obsessed with her than he had been with Kaelie. He hated that he was losing yet another friend due to his stupidity. Jace had hurt so many people when he found out about Kaelie and Sebastian's betrayal and he didn't want to lose Clary. He texted her, called her, and even showed up at her door. He was starting to look like a stalker, so eventually he stopped. It didn't stop him however, from going to the university and waiting for her to come but she never did.

He wondered where she was; he had even waited in Java Jones on her typical shifts but she never showed up. The girl she usually worked with shot him strange glances as he waited everyday for Clary. One day the girl came up to him,

"Are you looking for Clary? Because this is getting goddamn creepy." The girl said, Jace read her name tag as Maia and he only nodded.

"She took up bar tending, try her at Hunter's Moon and leave this bloody place alone. You should see that girl; she's a goddamn lightweight when it comes to alcohol." Maia laughed and shook her head.

_Clary? His Clary was drinking? _Jace thought and opened his mouth,

"I'm sorry, did you say Clary drinks?"

"Yeah, shocker I know. She's always been against it but she took it up. I've had to pick her up for a few times because she's drunk off her ass. I don't even think she's going to class anymore." Maia stated and left.

Jace felt his heart shatter as he raced out the coffee shop and hopped into a cab. When he arrived, he saw a man's arms slung around his angel's shoulder while she threw her head back laughing, clutching a bottle of vodka. His blood fueled with rage and his hands formed into fists as he pushed the man off of her.

"Woah there man, I didn't know she was your whore." The asshole said with hands up in mock surrender.

No one called Clary that and Jace felt the vein on his temple about to burst. He swung his arm into the man's face repetitively until Clary pulled him away giggling.

"Jace, it's okay. Calm down, take a drink." She offered him the bottle and suddenly it felt like the most repulsive thing to him. He took the bottle and dropped it on the man's stomach causing the man to groan as he laid on the cement all bloodied.

"No, I'm bringing you to my apartment." Jace said and pulled her on the wrist.

"So you can screw me like you screwed Aline?" She giggled and clung onto Jace. "Does she like it hard and rough Jace? Because I don't. I have a secret to tell you."

"What is it Clary?" He asked supporting her body as they walked.

"I'm not a virgin anymore." She whispered and this broke Jace's heart. Someone else had taken over her in his absence and it was his fault.

"Who was it?" He gulped. Jace didn't want to hear who it was otherwise he would punch the asshole that left her hanging like that. He would kill him for not treating her like an angel. Clary was the type of girl that deserved rose petals and lit candles on her first night and not in a cheap hotel room.

Clary giggled and stopped him from walking,

"I'm joking!" She squealed jumping up and down. "You should have seen your face!"

With a sigh of relief, he picked her up and threw her into a fireman's carry; slinging her over his back.

"Don't joke like that Clary." Jace said in all seriousness.

"I just wanted to see if you would get jealous." She admit through a slur. "I don't understand how you kiss me like that and then you sleep with her."

"It goes both ways Clary. You went on a date and I coped with it."

"I guess…" She trailed into sleep and stopped speaking. Jace sighed, he really hated cabs but it was one of New York's traits that you either loved or hated.

Through the ride, Clary placed herself under Jace's arm and cuddled under him. She hugged him tightly like a koala bear hugging a eucalyptus tree. Purring, she rubbed her cheek against his chest and began muttering things that Jace didn't comprehend.

A beep sounded in her pocket and he picked it up reading the texts:

_Hey baby, didn't know you had moves like that, you shouldn't hide it. –Meliorn_

_Let's go drink again. –Raphael _

_I liked how you touched my mango last night. ;) –Eric_

Jace locked his jaw tightly at the list of texts these men had sent her, he decided to sent out texts to all of them saying,

_This is her boyfriend, fuck off and don't text her anymore. –J _

He then proceeded to delete all the contacts with the exception of himself, Simon, Isabelle, and Maia. Letting out a huff, he saw that she began to groan and quickly slipped the phone back into her pocket.

Brushing at her hair, Jace held her as she began sobbing quietly against his shirt.

"Don't go." She whispered and he kissed her forehead.

"I won't." And she body relaxed as she fell back to sleep. Jace swore to himself that he would not sleep with anyone while he was chasing her. Clary was much too important; more important that a tiny orgasm was and what she needed was to feel loved and frankly, Jace needed to feel loved too.

Throwing cash to the cab driver, he pulled carried her like he would carry a child. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and her arms automatically went around his neck.

"Jace…" Clary slurred as they went up the elevator.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to lick me? You said I would taste like candy." She laughed and began to pepper his neck with small kisses. Quickly, Jace began to grow aroused but he knew that he would not take advantage of her drunken state and that his left hand and a cold shower would have to calm him down today.

"Not today." Jace gulped and walked into his apartment taking shallow breaths as she continued kiss him.

"Why not?" Clary murmured against his neck and began kissing him harder that nearly caused Jace to drop her. She was going to leave a hickey and honest to God, Jace thought that it was the hottest thing ever; to have her mark on him.

"You're drunk and–fuck!" He exclaimed as she sucked on a place right below his ear. They were now in his bedroom and he laid her down on the bed. Clary untangled himself from him and began to laugh with her dimples showing through.

"You have hickies on your neck." She giggled and began to squirm on the bed. "And they're mine!" She sang and Jace shook her head.

"You're one hilarious drunk. Don't ever drink again Clary." Jace stated, turning around and pulled his shirt over his head, changing into his pajamas.

That was when he felt it, Clary hugging him from behind...he felt her smooth, naked skin against his. Somehow, she had stripped quickly in her drunken daze.

"Jace." Clary said his name in a straight tone that almost convinced him that she wasn't drunk.

"Clary, you have to put your clothes on." He said sternly but quickly felt _Jace Jr. _rising up.

"Jace, you have to look at me." Clary stated letting go of her arms and he turned, mouth agape and breath hitched. She was not sexy. She was not hot. She was more than beautiful and Jace couldn't find any other words to describe her. Clary only had her panties on; it was that one piece of flimsy cloth that Jace could easily tear and finally enter her.

"You're more beautiful than the stars." He breathed and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips on his.

Eagerly, Jace returned the kiss with a soft passion. Though inside his head, he knew that he wasn't going to sleep with her because she had said before that she would have sex with the person she loved and Jace wanted her to love him.

Surpisingly, it was a clean kiss and no matter how much Clary seemed to be sober, Jace knew that she wasn't.

"You have to put your clothes back on." Jace said against her lips and she shook her head.

"I don't want to have barriers with you." She said and Jace sighed. This was difficult especially with Jace Jr. twitching every time that Jace moved.

"Clary, you're going to wake up and be ashamed that you did that." Jace said and offered her one of his shirts. "Put it on, please. You have no idea how badly I want you but I don't want you like this-I don't want you to be drunk. I want you to be awake and alive when you see me going in and out of you."

With reluctance, Clary took Jace's shirt and pulled it on. She slid into the blankets and curled into a ball, drifting into complete sleep.

Jace laid beside Clary looking at her sleeping form and inched closer to her, placing his arm around her waist while he was at it. He never wanted to let her go and kept his arm secure until morning came.

"Jace. You have to let go, what am I doing here?" A voice exclaimed beside him and he opened his eyes to find angry doe eyes.

"Clary, can we talk?" Jace said tired and she looked at him as if he were a psycho.

"What is there to talk about Jace?"

"Everything. Maybe starting with the alcohol? You saw what it did to me, why would you go and destroy yourself like that?" Jace asked calmly and her bottom lip began to tremble.

The topic caused an immense trigger for Clary. It seemed like alcohol had destroyed almost everything that was close to her...including herself.

"I don't know." Was all she could manage before running out and locking herself in the bathroom. Jace knocked on the door hardly and yelled her name over and over.

"Clary! Come out! We can talk! Clary!" She didn't budge, and Jace only heard the sound of the shower going off and quiet sobs. Sighing, Jace looked around to find the bathroom key which was placed in a kitchen drawer. Placing the key into the knob, he turned it and found that Clary was still in his shirt and entirely wet.

With the water drowning all sound out. Clary didn't even notice that Jace was stripped down to his boxers and now in the shower with her.

Tapping her shoulder, she turned with a gasp. Jace was too focused on her face to even notice the shirt had clung onto her body tightly.

"Jace you have to get out." Clary said in between cut off breaths. He looked at her with eyes of sympathy and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's my shower and I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong." He whispered into her ear.

Shuddering, she felt her body grow warmer as Jace's heat began to flow to her.

"Remember that night we met?" Jace nodded into the crook of her neck and Clary continued, "You reminded me of my brother...he died of alcoholism and I couldn't see that happen to you."

Jace was silent. He absorbed every word she had spoke and closed his eyes to feel her skin.

"I didn't know he was unhappy and that he drank into oblivion every night. Its one of my sins Jace; it's one that even God cannot forgive because I didn't notice the signs." A short gasp came out of her and Jace ran his hand up and down her back, soothing her.

"I don't deserve happiness...I don't deserve good things." Clary said this and Jace tore himself away and placed his hands on either side of her cheek, caressing them and wiping away the tears that continually flowed.

"Do you know what I see you as?" Clary shook her head and Jace's heart clenched tightly, "I see you as my angel. I see you as the angel who left God to save me. I see you as the purest person in the world and I don't deserve you but I still have you. You can't blame yourself for your brother's death like I can't blame myself for my parents'."

"How could you see me as that?" Clary's voice broke as she denied everything that Jace said.

"Because your good and your brother would want you to be happy. What was the one thing he wanted for you? Do you know?" And Clary shook her head.

"He told me one time that he had a baby sister and that if anyone came in the way of her happiness, he would beat them to pulp." Jace said and Clary released a breath she didn't know she was holding. It was the type of breath that proclaimed "I am free from my burdened heart."

They took a minute to be silent, letting the shower water pound against the tub. Clary had even stopped crying and Jace only looked into her eyes, and then her lips, and then freckles, and then at her all at once.

"I guess I'm the only one in the way of my own happiness." Clary stated and a small smile formed on her face. "And I'm never touching that alcohol ever again, my head hurts." They both chuckled and Jace opened his mouth to ask a question but Clary beat him to talking.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, "Did I give you those?" She pointed to his neck which had small purple figures on them.

Jace only smirked and touched one of the hickies with one of his slender fingers.

"What do you think? You're the best drunk ever but I swear to God if another guy calls you a whore ever, he's dead." Jace turned immediately serious and Clary saw it. She saw Adonis and Aphrodite and her heart leaped out as she said.

"I don't want to be friends with you."

His shoulders slumped into disappointment and his face turned grim until she grabbed him by his head and smashed her lips against his passionately. Jace kissed her back with the same passion; it was needing and desperate. Both of them were smiling against each other's lips and panting for breath.

Jace halted the kiss for a few seconds and breathed out the words,

"I don't want to be friends with you either." And continued to kiss her as if it was required to live.

* * *

Laying sideways on Jace's bed, Clary watched as Jace entered the bedroom with two sundaes.

"Thank you!" She chirped as he handed her the bowl of ice cream.

He sat down on the bed beside her and watched as the spoon entered her mouth in delight.

"You're gonna go back to school right?" Jace asked and Clary nodded.

"I have a lot to catch up on."

"We both do." Jace chuckled and handed Clary her cellphone.

"Oh crap, I should call Simon back. He's probably worried, I've been ignoring him and I haven't been at my apartment at all." Clary dialled his number in which Simon immediately picked up.

"Clary? Oh God where are you?" Simon began to freak out and Clary chuckled.

"I'm at Jace's, I've just decided to take a small break, that's all."

"In the middle of the semester?!" Simon exclaimed. He was so loud that Jace heard the entire conversation.

"Yes in the middle of the semester." Clary rolled her eyes at this lie and squeezed Jace's hand.

"You owe me coffee Morgenstern and a talk. Isabelle and I are in the middle of a fight right now, I have to call you back later." And Simon hung up with a huff, not even allowing Clary to say a good bye.

Proceeding to check her texts, she saw that all of the men she met nights before had texted her to meet up. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jace begin to freak out.

"Something wrong?" Clary asked and checked her phone to see what was sent. Seeing the words that Jace wrote to those guys made her smile.

As Jace began to stutter, Clary put the sundaes on the nightstand and leaned in to kiss him.

"Thank you for chasing them off."

"You're mine now." Jace said possessively and rolled over to straddle her.

"And you're mine." Clary said back, bringing his head down to hers.

"I refuse to share you." Jace said as he peppered kisses all around her collarbone.

"No more Aline?"

"No no more Aline." He said firmly and his lips trailed up to hers, brushing against them softly.

"Promise?" She breathed out.

"Promise." He pressed hard on her lips and moved against them easily. Neither wanted the moment to end but when Jace pulled away, Clary sighed.

"You have to take me on a normal date." Clary stated and propped herself up using her elbow.

"A normal date? What kind of dates have you been on?" Jace asked and Clary scrunched her face in disgust.

"Never mind, I don't want to hear you talk about other guys because you're mine now and that's all that matters." Jace said and Clary blushed.

"I remember glimpses of last night." She said shyly and Jace raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"Do you now?"

"You saw me didn't you? Everything?" Clary asked and bit down on her lip. It took everything in Jace's power to not take her then and there.

"You're God damn beautiful and I can see why God wants you back."

"God isn't obsessed with beauty Jace." Clary shook her head and smiled.

"Do you go to church Clary?" Jace asked and she said a small no. "Good because I plan on taking you in ways that the church would forbid." He said in a whisper and Clary felt herself tighten.

"Well then maybe we should start going." She teased and Jace frowned.

It was already killing him that he was waiting but for her, he'd wait until they were both eighty years old. Whenever she was ready, he'd be more than willing to have her.

"Only if I could take you on a church pew then yes." Jace winked and Clary bit down on her bottom lip with eyes widened.

"Well you sure have an imagination." Clary said. _And a way of arousing someone. _She added in her head and Jace chuckled.

"You know that when a woman is aroused, her face turns pink and so do her breasts." Jace stated and Clary's mouth dropped in an 'o'.

"I feel like you're trying to seduce me Jace." Clary breathed out and Jace leaned into her.

"You've already been seduced Clary." And he pulled away with a grin.

With that, Clary knew she had to get back to her apartment and try the _thing _she ordered that should have arrived already. She would be thinking of the man standing before her while she was using it and how aroused he would be if he saw her using it. Getting up from the bed, she whispered words into Jace's ear that caused Jace Jr. to fly straight up.

"Those are some dirty thoughts for an angel to say." Jace gulped as Clary tilted her head in feigned innocence. Her hand trailed to where he was aroused and rested there as she spoke more words that made it twitch.

"They say when a man is aroused, they can barely speak and they're hard as a rock...right about here." Her fingers grazed along the fabric that held Jace's manhood in place and she smirked. Frolicking away she, blew a kiss to him at the door and said genuinely, "Come over tonight." And she left leaving Jace to enter the bathroom again for a cold shower.

* * *

"So what's up with you and Isabelle?" Clary asked in Java Jones, she had applied there once again and Magnus had quickly taken her back.

"She's being stupid. Who the hell wants to get married right now?" Simon said angrily taking a swig of black coffee.

Raising her brows, she gave Simon shocked look.

"One, never call a woman stupid, she could probably beat you up and do it in heels too. Two, it is too soon for that but just tell her not right now or maybe in a few years. Did you ask her why anyways?"

Throwing his hands up in the air, he looked like he was about to strangle something. It was like no one understood him; like everyone thought she was right.

"You know what she said?! "Simon, I might be pregnant, let's get married." Like God, that isn't reason to get married." Simon exclaimed and Clary patted him on the shoulder.

"You guys do have a lot of sex." She pointed out. Giving her a glare, he shook his head.

"You're not helping. I don't have money for a baby. We're seeing a doctor in a couple of days so...hopefully she isn't and I don't have to be a bloody dad this soon." Simon huffed out an angry breath. Clary could see that he was frustrated, hell, if she was pregnant she would be angry too.

"Well do you want to marry her?" Clary asked and Simon's expression softened.

"Of course, just not now."

"Then you tell her that." She said squeezing his hand.

"Even if there was kid, I wouldn't leave her. I love her and nothing can push me away but marriage and children are freaking expensive and I am Jewish! If my mom knew I was having sex and created a child in the wedlock, she'd freak."

Clary smiled at this and held his hand across the table,

"Calm down Simon, if you need help we're here for you."

"Thanks Clary." He gave her a smile and asked about her and Jace.

"We're together yeah." She smiled at the thought of them this morning and took a sip of her coffee.

"Have banging sex yet?" Simon asked her so nonchalantly that she choked on her coffee.

"No!" Clary gaped at him and flushed a bright pink.

"Mhmm, but you want to." He gave her a wink and Clary turned into a tomato.

"Oh shush you." She chastised and Simon snickered. "You're becoming more and more like Isabelle I swear to God."

The two friends caught up on each other's lives but Clary avoided the topic of where she was last month and what she did. No matter what, Simon could not know. She didn't deal with his pity very well, especially not when Jonathan died. She knew Simon cared and that was all she needed.

They left with a hug and made their way back to their own apartments. Clary was at the door of her apartment when she was stopped by large hands at her waist.

"Miss me?" Jace mused and gave her a peck on the lips.

"You came." She smiled and led him inside. The apartment hadn't been touched in a month but like Valentine promised, her bills had been paid for. Checking the mail box, she saw that a package had been delivered and she smirked.

"What are you smiling to yourself about?" Jace asked and she handed him the brown box.

"Open it."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Jace found an x-acto knife on the counter and began to tear the package with it. Clary only watched in amusement as he smirked when the cardboard box came off.

"Fuck." Was all he said and Clary strode over and brought his head down to hers.

"Wanna see me try it out?" She asked with her heart thumping so loud it may break out of her chest.

"Fuck yeah." Crashing his lips on hers, a moan came her throat and she straddled him, wrapping her legs around his waist while he held her legs up. Her hands fisted into the strands of his curly hair as they made their way into her bedroom.

Placing her on the bed, Jace pulled away panting and handed her the vibrator. Clary her shirt over her head and unzipped her dark jeans, leaving her in clad in her bra and underwear. They were matching and of white lace. White was a symbol of purity and Jace found that to be even more sexy.

Pulling down at the flimsy fabric, Jace let out a sharp intake of air and clenched his jaw.

"Hey Jace?" Clary mused from the bed with a smile.

"Yeah?" He groaned and she smirked.

"We forgot double A batteries." She was laughing and Jace was in pain from his erection and he let out a second groan.

"Got any in here?"

"Maybe." She teased and rolled so that she laid on her stomach.

"Please tell me where it is Clary." Jace practically begged as he saw her firm butt which made him want to take her from behind. Laughing, she leaned over to open the drawer of her nightstand and retrieved double A batteries.

"It's funny to see you frustrated like this." She laughed and started the vibrator.

Trailing it down between her thighs, she let out a moan that caused Jace to harden more. As the vibrator buzzed more and more, Clary's chest rose and fell with her eyes closed.

"Open your eyes Clary." Jace commanded and when she did, a film of lust was in her eyes. Jace was mesmerized at the way her body moved and how her hand went up and down with the pink object.

Arching her back, she felt the wave tremble through her body and she let out one last pant and moaned his name. Releasing the vibrator, she smiled and Jace's body peered over hers.

"That was one of the most beautiful acts I have ever saw." Jace breathed and Clary smiled.

"You still hard Jace?" Clary asked and he lowered his body on her.

"Feel that?" Clary nodded, "When you're ready, that's going to be inside of you going in and out slowly and then quickly and then to the point where you see white and you're screaming my name." Jace whispered and Clary swallowed.

"I need to show you something." And she sat up, rolling off the bed and retrieving her laptop. She pulled up a photo of a redhead and a blond walking together; it was Spranger's painting of Venus and Adonis.

"That looks like us." Jace pointed out, "Except you're more beautiful than Venus and I'm hotter than Adonis."

Clary let out a laugh and put away her laptop.

"It's something I noticed too." She had her hand on Jace's face and grazed it against his cheek, "I'm naked and you're clothed; just like the painting. And in the painting, Adonis loved her and she loved him...do you think you could love me Jace?"

Clary stared straight into Jace's eyes expecting an answer from him quickly. Jace who had never been asked a question like this, responded to her question with a kiss.

"I don't think, I know." He said and she smiled, leaning against his chest.

"Okay."

Jace wanted to worship her body and kiss every inch of her skin. Jace was happy for the first time in months and he prayed to God that Clary was now too.

* * *

Emil paced in his loft, he couldn't believe that Valentine had believed him over his own daughter. Though he knew that Valentine was always daft, he didn't know he was _that_ oblivious and stupid. Now nothing was going to get in the way of deflowering his only child…besides the golden haired boy whose parents died in an _accident._

* * *

**Author's Note: **I feel like I'm in trouble aha, I was at church all night and had no time to upload since fanfiction was down so I couldn't click upload. Every Friday, I promise except for this Friday because I am doing the 30 Hour Famine for World Vision–I am not going to be eating for 30 hours and I will not have any type of technology just like the children in developing countries. Wish me luck and if you want to donate to a good cause, just PM me and I'll link you to the donation page for World Vision.

Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it still technically is Friday. Love you all! Shoot me a review! No, they won't have sex yet.

-Ry


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight_

Jace had rented a paintball arena for them but instead of paintball, it was paint balloons that immediately explode on contact. The balloons could even explode on your hand if the grip was too tight.

"You're going down Wayland." Clary sang before they entered. This was definitely better than dinner and a movie.

"Baby, the only time I'm going down is when I go down on you." He winked and she swatted his chest while blushing profusely.

It had been two days since they made it official and in the span of two days, Jace purchased a motorcycle so they didn't have to take cabs back and forth or deal with sassy cab drivers.

"The person covered in the most paint loses." Clary announced and Jace smirked as he smashed a balloon on the back of her head.

"Starting now." He grinned and ran around the course.

The field was silent and Jace wondered where Clary could have been hiding, but little did he know that his angel had snuck up on him and smashed one balloon on his butt and one on his head.

"Karma sucks doesn't it?" Clary stated with a giggle and began to run but Jace caught her on the waist and splattered one on her butt as well.

"Now we're even." He said and let her go. It was more fun to chase her around the course than to cheat and keep her in his hold. As Jace began to throw another, it exploded in his hand and he muttered a curse.

She hid behind a pillar and saw Jace coming closer, but instead of running away, she ran into him and splattered the balloon into his chest. Jumping on his waist, Clary decided to play a little unfair and kiss him on the lips and grind softly against his body before smashing another balloon on his neck.

Letting out a giggle, she hopped off of his and began to run again.

_That little minx. _Jace thought and sprinted after her. At this point, she was screaming when Jace caught up beside her and knocked her down to the ground into a straddle.

A balloon exploded against her stomach and she let out a giggle.

"You've decided to play unfair huh?" Jace questioned and splat another on either sides of her arms.

"How about if I lose, I have to go down on you and if you lose, you have to do it on me." Clary offered and Jace really could not see the downside to this. He adored her; he worshipped her and he would purposely lose just to go down on her and eat her out.

"There's really no downside to this." Jace pointed out and Clary shrugged. "I might even let you win just so that I can taste you."

"Who said you're gonna let me win because I'm going to whoop your butt fair and square." She said as she smashed two more balloons on both his arms.

"I'm not going to throw anymore Clary." Jace sang and Clary scowled at him.

"If you're not going to, then the deal is off and I can just do this." She chucked a balloon at Jace Jr. and he groaned.

"Fuck! On second thought, you looking up at me on the ground would be a hot site too."

The battle continued until both of them were covered from head to toe in paint. But in the end, it was Clary that still had a patch of skin on her neck that hadn't been covered in paint so she won-fair and square.

This was probably one of the best things she had ever done in her life and she was glad the person she did it with was Jace.

Jace had never done this with any of his girlfriends before because they were all terrified of getting dirty. He was glad that Clary didn't mind getting paint all over her, then again she was an artist and a painter. He began to wonder if she would paint his body-literally paint on him preferably using melted chocolate or something edible. The thought aroused him as he washed the paint off in the shower at the paintball site. He hated being in a separate shower from her and wondered if her pussy did in fact taste like candy.

When they got back to Jace's apartment, Clary began to cook dinner. Spaghetti was simple enough after their day at the paintball arena. Jace took out two champagne glasses and poured water in both of them.

"To sobriety." He toasted and raised his glass to hers. They sat at the couch and ate their dinner as they watched _The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. _They were in the middle of the movie when Clary's phone rang.

"Hey Simon." Clary greeted and Jace paused the movie.

"Hey." He said on the other line.

"What's up?"

"We went to the doctor today." Simon sounded sad and Clary's heart almost stopped.

"Oh my God, is she pregnant?!" Clary exclaimed and Simon responded with a small "No."

Clary was confused, she thought Simon didn't want a baby.

"Okay, then what's wrong?"

"Isabelle found out that she can't have kids; she's infertile. I don't really care but she does, she thinks I'm going to leave her so she locked herself in the bathroom." Simon explained and Clary's heart dropped for her.

"I'm so sorry." Clary apologized and all Simon could do was sigh.

"It's all right, I better go anyways. I have to get her out of there. I'll lure her with shopping. See ya Clary, I know you're with him. Have crazy sex, bye." And he hung up as soon as Clary said her goodbye.

"Something wrong?" Jace asked and Clary leaned her head into his chest.

"What if I couldn't have a baby?" Clary asked and Jace furrowed his eyebrows, then a lightbulb dinged in his head and he made a connection to the phone call.

"Do you ever want one?" Jace replied with a question; it seemed to be the right response this time instead of a shallow one. Hell, they hadn't even had sex yet and she was already talking about children.

"Well...yeah…" Clary said shyly and Jace felt like he stopped breathing. He didn't know how to take care of kids–he was an only child for all his life; no younger siblings and he was spoiled rotten. Then again, he didn't even know if Clary wanted to have children with _him. _

"Well if you couldn't have a baby, you'd still be mine." Jace said. He didn't want to say that he loved her–it was too soon for a word like that. They had just recovered from their hurts and he didn't want to burden her with another mountain like that; it would be too heavy on her heart. Besides, Jace wasn't sure yet but he knew that he had a constant yearning for her.

Burying her head further into Jace's chest, she took an intake of him and her nostrils were filled with the aroma of honey and lemons that was Jace's signature scent. It comforted her and made her want to stay in that position forever.

"Jace, I need to tell you something…" Clary was scared to even admit to him what had happened last month, but it had to be done.

"What's wrong?"

"You know how I was messed up last month…?" Clary started and took a sharp breath; her breathing became a bit unsteady, she was terrified to tell him.

"Okay?"

"I did some stuff that I'm not proud of." Clary stated and pulled away from his chest, the comfort leaving her body.

Jace waited for her to continue, but what she said made him go into shock.

"I'm still a virgin but I was so not...myself, that I just agreed to just…" Another breath. "I blew some guys and that's why they were texting me."

The air became silent and it was tense, it was as if someone could cut through the tension with a knife. Jace was deeply hurt inside; he was possessive of her and he would never want her to be hurt, but those men had taken advantage of her drunken state. It wasn't like he was a virgin or that he's never had women give him hand jobs, blow jobs, you name it. He had no right to judge her but he promised himself that no other man would ever have her ever again.

There was also the point where he wondered how Clary had gone from being mortified to talk about sexual activities to being exceedingly confident about it. She had seduced the men and the men took advantage of her. That though, didn't make Jace not adore her; she was his.

"Okay." Was all he said before he pressed a chaste kiss on her lips. "It doesn't make me like you any less; it just makes me want to run them all over with my motorcycle so that they never touch you ever again."

"You don't find me disgusting or slutty?" Clary asked in a mousy way with her eyes full of hope.

"You're my angel. You are pure and you are beautiful." Jace said a placed another kiss on her forehead. "I've fucked women and lots of them." Clary glared at him and Jace grinned. "But seeing your jealous, angry face right now reassures me that you're mine and I'm yours and no one else can have either of us anymore and so Amen to that."

"Jace...I…" Clary started but she couldn't say the words, she choked on them and the words just couldn't come out of her throat. "I had a lot of fun today." It wasn't a lie but it wasn't what she wanted to say.

Deep down, Jace hoped that Clary would say that she loved him but either way he would have smiled because all he wanted was for her to be happy.

"I still lost." He pouted but he was secretly grinning inside of what his punishment was and man, was it a good punishment. Patting his head mockingly, Clary cooed.

"Aww poor baby."

"Yes poor baby." Jace agreed and Clary laughed.

"You want my pants don't you?" Clary questioned and Jace shook his head.

"God no, I want you naked." Jace scoffed and she leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Only if you say please." The seductive voice had came back and Jace immediately became hard.

"Fuck, please?" He begged and Clary tutted him.

"Language." She sang and began to unbuttoned her blouse.

"Clary, please."

She only shook her head laughing at his desperation. It was beautiful to hear her laugh and Jace thought that it'd be even more beautiful to see her bare once again.

Once she was in her bra and panties, Jace pointed something out about them. They were always matching and very lacy.

"How come you do that? You wear matching bras and panties and it's always lace? Not that I'm complaining; it's sexy."

"Like you said, its sexy. I want to look plain on the outside but on the inside, I just want to feel beautiful Jace." She replied. Whenever she had extra money leftover, she had always gone lingerie shopping but never had someone to show it off to. She owned a set in every single colour and she could not wait to show him.

"You are beautiful no matter what you wear even though I prefer you wearing nothing." Jace chuckled and grazed his thumb on the curve of her breast. Hooking a finger into the edge of her underwear, he pulled it down to the floor and flung it somewhere in the living room.

Dropping down, he rested his head between her thighs and began kissing the flesh that he wanted so badly to be inside of.

Letting out a gasp, Clary managed to say,

"Jace, we have to close the curtains." But Jace only trailed himself to the top of her breasts, causing a moan to come from her throat.

"Jace...please...you have to–" She was cut off by him going back down and using his tongue. Clary was pretty sure that she was half screaming and half moaning but she didn't care; it felt like ecstasy. She couldn't believe that he was eating her out from the sofa and didn't even shut the curtains. Raking her hands through his hair to pull him closer, Jace continued until he there was a wave of clear fluid in his mouth and he felt the pulse of her orgasm on his tongue. With a smile, he gave one last kiss to down there and smothered her body with his.

"Didn't know you were a screamer." He mused and she kissed him roughly on the lips.

"Did I taste like candy?" She teased and he let out a boom of laughter.

"You tasted better than candy." He assured and carried her to the bedroom. Stripping down to his boxers, he laid beside her in bed and held her to him. He was running his fingers through her hair and patted it so that she felt comfortable.

"Can you tell me about Jonathan? How you met him I mean." Clary asked in a soft voice.

"My dad was an investor in your dad's company. So one day, my dad brought me over to your house to meet Jonathan. It was this kiddie playdate thing. He had foam swords and nerf guns so I liked him. He was nice and he played fair. He talked about you a lot."

"Really? What did he say?"

"'My sister is the most precious thing in the world, if anyone hurt her I'd kill them.'"

"Well she's in good hands." Clary said hugging him closer.

"I haven't seen him since then. I wish that I could have stayed in contact but there was a fire that burned down my house and my parents with it. I don't know how it started but I was at school and by the time they called me out of class, my home was just ashes and so were the bodies." Jace explained and Clary gripped onto his hands.

"I'm sorry."

"For what? Did you burn my house down?" Jace chuckled and she shook her head. "Then there's nothing to be sorry for."

"My mom ran away...it's like she went crazy and just ran. She had this psychotic episode where she tried to strangle Valentine and poof! Gone. I don't really have anyone but you Jace." Clary said in a tired voice. Truth be told, she was tired of trying to please everyone to them in her life. Why couldn't they just stay for her?

"You're all that I have too." He said back and she curled her head into the nape of his neck. Clary had a sense that she had already fallen in love with him and he fell in love with her too, but they didn't want to say the words. All they needed was the presence of each other.

* * *

_Smack_!

His wife had slapped him. How dare she? Did she not know she was below him? Didn't she know that she was only one of his whores?

Emil began to take slow and angry steps towards her while she began to beg for forgiveness. She knew on every level how powerful he was; not just on status but also physically.

At one point, she was convinced that he loved her but a demon had possessed his mind and completely changed him. The Prince of Lust and Greed had bit into his heart and suddenly, she wasn't enough for him anymore.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it." She cried but he only slyly grinned. His strands of white hair shone beneath the chandelier in their bedroom.

"I come back to have you comfort me and please me only to be met by violence. You're so naïve." He tutted her and she only shook her head frantically.

Emil knew he was going to hell so why not enjoy all the pleasures on earth before he went into the flaming inferno.

His wife began praying and muttering words of praise to God but he only laughed at her.

"Do you really think God can help you right now?! He won't listen to you because you're a _pathetic_, little _whore._" He spat at her with disdain and her prayer stopped. She knew that God had stopped listening to her years ago but it was worth another try.

There was a flash of courage that shown in her blood suddenly. If she was going to die today, then she would die with courage.

"You're going to hell Emil." She whispered and he laughed.

"Well, if I'm going to hell then you're going with me." He taunted her and ordered for the kitchens to prepare some dinner for the two of them.

"What are you doing?" She asked no longer crying. He was always up to no good.

The Wayland Fire. The Death of Jonathan Morgenstern. The Rape of Jocelyn Morgenstern. She remembered the three main events that were his largest sins. He had gained the trust of the two families and abused that trust. She wished that she had told someone but no, she stayed loyal when he didn't.

"Take your last breath right now." Was the last thing he said when the food came up and wine was a foul dark colour that looked like it was tainted with sin.

"I'm not eating that." She shook her head and shut her mouth tight. But that was the last thing she did before he lunged and drowned her with the poisoned wine.

Emil decided that she knew too much and her loyalty had faded the moment he was welcomed with a slap. There was no use for her anymore. He would only have to pretend in the morning that he woke up to her dead. His conscience didn't shake one bit. She was going to stand in the way of his goal for Clarissa anyways.

And he knew just the way to get her alone.

* * *

In the span of the next few weeks, Clary had somewhat caught up to her classes. Jace, who was still trying to earn Professor Herondale's trust, had slowly started to get on her good side once again.

"Jace, good work on your paper." It was the closest thing he had ever gotten as a compliment from her.

"Thank you professor."

"Keep it up." Was the last thing she said before she left the class.

Jace left the class with a smile, it was hard enough to get a professor to even notice you but to win their trust again was even harder. Jace had done it though and he called for a celebration with his girlfriend.

"Hey, you and me tonight. I'm taking you out." Jace greeted over the phone. He felt like he was four years old again and giddy to the fact that someone was proud of him.

Clary laughed over the phone and told him that she couldn't. This displeased Jace and Clary could see Jace pouting.

"I really can't Jace, I have so much to catch up on. Plus Professor Malachi won't let me hand in my last piece. It's such a mess right now and I don't know how to clean this up." Clary began to rant over the phone and Jace felt a stinge of guilt. Of all the people, it was Clary who had to go through this.

"Anything I can help you with? Need a nude model?" He offered and she snorted.

"Jace, I'm gonna go finish this project, I can't afford another project failure." Clary said and Jace only frowned. There should be something he could do that would cheer her up.

"Okay, see you later then." Making a smooch over the phone, Clary hung up. They always ended their calls with 'See you later'. The two refused to say 'I love you' because it was far too soon. In addition, there was that part of Jace in which Kaelie had scarred him to the point where saying the words simply reminded him of pain. He was over her but he didn't want to fall again.

Walking to his motorcycle, Jace placed on his helmet and sped through New York to find a flower shop. He wanted to get her flowers and he wanted to get her a bunch to fill her apartment. Jace wished that she said yes to moving in with him, but to his disappoint, she declined.

He had even given her his puppy dog eyes and she still didn't budge; only laughed at him and patted his head, noting that it was a good try on his part. The thing with Clary was that she was independent and she had made it clear that Jace was her first boyfriend. She had done some pretty sketchy things that would make that fact questionable, but Jace didn't really care as long as no man but him would touch her.

To say that Jace Wayland was possessive was an understatement. Jealousy runs through his veins as normal as it was to breathe. He hated the fact that she didn't agree to live with him. Jace had even ordered a bed for the separate room but she still said no. It wasn't as if they slept in separate rooms when she stayed the night, therefore this was perplexing to Jace. Every time he brought the topic of moving in, she quickly changed the subject.

Shaking his head, Jace parked in front of Madame Dorothea's Garden. It was a greenhouse with twinkling LED lights all around. At first sight, one would think that the place was a botanical garden to view but it was actually a shop. His father used to send flowers from here and let Jace write the notes. This all stopped since the fire and they became ash-buried six feet below the ground.

Michael Wayland always sent out two-dozen blood red roses along with folded origami stars to Celine Wayland. Jace just remembered writing the cards and the way his father picked out the flowers. The blood red was symbolic to the love that pumped bish heart and the origami stars were his mother's eyes. He had his mother's eyes and this was something he was proud of. Now, he felt as if he was his father, picking out flowers to cheer his girlfriend up.

With a proud smile, he picked out two-dozen blood red roses and the folded origami stars. On top of it all, there was a single white rose in the middle that Jace picked. It meant forever. It meant innocence. It simply meant pure love.

* * *

A knock of her coffee cup, and the entire thing had spilled all over her floor. Clary was exceedingly tired and it pained her to do this project. She wanted desperately to hand in the Adonis and Aphrodite piece but Starkweather wouldn't allow her. He told her it was long overdue and that this was a lesson to not skip classes.

She worked so hard all through her university life and she didn't want it to end because she missed one month. This new project involved chiaroscuro–the treatment of light and shade or how darkness and light blended together to create something great.

It had to be something that was painful because it was the only way she would find the in between for light and dark. There were many painful events that occurred in her life but there wasn't anything that she could put down via paint or charcoal. Letting out a huff, Clary cleaned up the spill as well as the broken coffee mug when the thought occurred to her. It was as if a light bulb had dinged in her head, though she realized that the ding was actually the doorbell.

Running to the door, Clary swung it open to reveal a smiling Jace with a bundle of roses in one hand and a bag of food in the other.

"Happy Valentine's Day." They had both forgotten that it was the day of love until Jace saw a heart shaped balloon and teddy bears in the shops surrounding Valentine's Day.

"I forgot." She groaned and smacked herself on the forehead. Jace only chuckled and gave Clary a kiss on the cheek.

"That's quite all right. Are you still busy? Can I come in or should I just give you your dinner and go?" Jace asked, he didn't want to bother her amidst her projects.

"Stay, I might actually need a model." She teased and Jace raised his brows.

His hands flown to the fly of his jeans instantly as a joke and Clary's eyes went wide.

"Jace! Not a nude model. Keep your clothes on." She clarified and he gave her a pat on the head.

"I know, I was joking." Smirking, he went into her apartment and set down the dinner on the coffee table.

"What you're wearing right now is perfect actually." Clary said biting her lip, scanning him up and down. He wore a leather jacket, a white v-neck, dark wash jeans, and combat boots.

"And what you're wearing right now needs to come off." Jace placed his hands around her waist and handed her the roses.

"Jace…" She trailed off as he gave her a kiss on the lips.

"My dad used to get these for my mom. I hope you like them. Kaelie was always allergic to flowers."

"They're beautiful." She whispered, admiring the stars and the thorns as well. Giving Jace a grin, she ran to her room and retrieved a piece of charcoal and a large, white board.

She began to draw him as a little boy at the train station. His parents though, were locked in the train and unable to get out. Clary did not want this to be offensive but that was how it was. His parents were gone and Jace was the little boy that was left behind and lost. The only thing he had left was a rose in which the thorns pricked at his fingers. That was what she drew and she had done this under half an hour. Jace stood still as she drew and when she finished, he let out a sigh of a painful memory.

"They're gone. I know." Was all he said; this was something that Jace never enjoyed talking about. He hated the fact that they were gone and he was left in his teenage angst with no one to help or comfort him except for plastic, fake people around him. Even when he was with Kaelie and Sebastian, he hated talking about it because they never understood how he felt.

"I'm sorry, my assignment had to pertain to pain and I guess I chose yours." Clary began and Jace's eyes fell to the ground but she continued, "I was originally going to do us with you at the end of the tunnel and wings of the fallen angel but this is…much more real."

"Will you sleep with me tonight?" Jace asked out of nowhere and Clary's face went into shock.

"As in…?"

"Just sleeping, I guess I just sleep better when I'm with you."

"Of course." Clary went over and wrapped her arms around him.

"Je pense que je t'aime." He whispered into her air. Clary, who didn't understand French, had no idea what he was saying.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing important." He lied and dragged her to the sofa to eat. Clary had never celebrated Valentine's Day with any boy before. Sure, in elementary, she would put an extra sticker on the card for the boy she had a crush on. This though, was entirely new to her.

Deep down, Clary wished that she could give Jace happiness or make him happier like he had given her happiness. So the next few words spewed out of her mouth without any further thought,

"Take me tonight."

The words caused Jace's entire body to tighten up; he wasn't sure if she was actually serious or if she was even ready. He wondered if this was going way too fast as if they were going 120 kilometres an hour. Did they really know each other? Does she think she loves him too? All these thoughts crossed Jace's mind and the only rational thing he could think of doing was to kiss her. Jace kissed her hard, he bit down on her lip lightly and she responded with the same type of passion.

"Is that a yes?" Clary breathed out and Jace shook his head.

"No, not until you love me."

The tables have turned and the roles switched, suddenly Jace wanted to wait and this confused her. As she let the words sink in, it began to make sense that maybe Jace loves her. She smiled at the thought and whispered,

"Okay." And gave another kiss to his lips.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I survived not eating and no technology for thirty hours last Friday, yaaay! :) I hope you guys liked the chapter, I don't really edit my chapters so if someone actually wants to beta this, it'd make me a happy camper. I've been watching the Olympics in class haha, GO TEAM CANADA. WE ARE WINTER.

Shoot me a review and tell me who you think is going to win the hockey game on Sunday! Sweden or Canada?

-Ry


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter Nine_

It was upsetting to see her dead. Though Clary couldn't physically see her dead, it was an expression of sorts. Emil's wife was always kind to her and wasn't a person that talked much. She wore thin smiles that have been frayed; they were never real.

She received an invitation to the funeral and as much as Clary wanted to pay respect to her, she couldn't. It killed her a bit on the inside but she couldn't fathom seeing Emil's face again nor her father's. There was too much poison and betrayal in the two and it was too much to handle.

Today, she had to cover a shift for Maia and get something for Jace. Clary felt guilty for not getting him anything for Valentine's Day. She wanted to get something that had meaning.

"Hey, you busy today?" Jace asked over the phone.

"Hey Jace, I'm sort of on break right now so I can't talk for long." She said fingering the letters of the funeral invitation.

"You busy after?"

"I have to run an errand so I want to come over to your place after."

"Do you want me to do it for you?" Jace offered, he was sweet and this made Clary laugh at the thought of him gifting himself.

"No Jace, it has to be something I do myself."

"All right, I'll see you later then angel." He chuckled and she said the same see you later and hung up.

"Whipped." Her boss chimed behind her, collecting the cash from the till.

"Like you aren't Magnus?" Clary challenged in a teasing way which only made Magnus scoff.

"Pure pleasure honey." It was no secret that Magnus loved sex and his current adventure was with an Alexander Gideon Lightwood or Alec for short. He was a shy person until they were together alone. Magnus decided that Alec would last, unlike all the others.

"He pleasures me...just without sex." Clary mumbled and Magnus let out a hearty laugh that made her blush.

"You look as if you've already had sex and it was good and now you're in love. But who would have knew that you didn't yet." He stated and left to the back room. The comment left Clary fretting about her virginity, why was it such a big deal to whether or not they had sex or not. She would have to talk to Jace about it later but for now, break was over and she had to get back to work.

When she arose from her seat, Clary was stopped by a hand on her arm. The grip was firm and tight and when she looked up to meet the eyes of the person holding her, it was the face of Emil Pangborn.

Quickly, she sputtered out nervously,  
"What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too Clarissa, is this really your way of treating a guest?" He drawled out in a slimy, seductive way. This sent shivers down her spine as she tore her arm away from his grip.

This was when Clary realized that she had workplace rights; they were rights set by Magnus himself. She had rights to refuse work if it were dangerous in any way. So, she did what any sane woman would do: she ran to the back room and called for her flamboyant manager.

"I can't." She heaved out and Magnus quickly placed down his pen.

"What's wrong honey?" He asked in a calming, fatherly way.

"There's a guy out there and I can't be there."

"Ex-boyfriend?"

"God no!" She shouted and Magnus placed his hands up in surrender.

"All right, calm down. I'll go get someone else." As Magnus left the room, Clary felt a sigh of relief rush through her. There was absolutely no way she would go to the funeral; no matter how much she adored his wife for sticking out so long.

"Do you want to tell me why you wouldn't serve him?" Magnus asked in a calm voice and she explained the business dinner. By the end, Magnus felt a bit of rage to what had occurred. He always thought of his employees as one, big, happy family and if anyone was injured–emotionally or physically–Magnus would see to it. There was enough pain in his past and he didn't want Pandora's Box to be opened. But he knew that Clary was hurt; he could see it. And as much as he wanted to look into her box, he couldn't.

"Well, I can't exactly have you sitting here in the back room all day, it's my office too. So, just restock the supplies and clean the counters, but do not go over the counter; stay behind." Magnus told her. Clary didn't mind this job since Magnus offered security and equal love to everyone. She remembered that it was Alec who introduced the job to her since Isabelle and him were siblings, she had a connection.

Turning the knob of the back door, she muttered a thanks to Magnus who shooed her off and she peeked to see if he was still there. The old man was scanning the entire place and looking for her; specifically sitting at the table that was closest to the counter. It was creepy and should be illegal. This was stalkery on a whole new level.

Letting out a breath of air, she began to clean the counters while ignoring eye contact with Emil. She thought of Jace and the thought of him brought a smile to her face. Even though today was going to be a long day, Clary knew she had someone's arms to be in when she was off work.

The hours began to pass by and Emil still wouldn't leave. As a resort, she called Simon to come pick her up. There was no way that she would go over that counter without an escort and a ride.

"Sup Morgenstern?" Simon strode in and leaned over the counter.

"Can you take me away from here?" Clary said immediately but Simon had a different interpretation of what she asked.

"Woah woah woah, you have a boyfriend and I have a girlfriend. This isn't right." Clary smacked at his chest and rolled her eyes.

"I meant take me away from Java Jones and bring me home to Jace. Jesus Simon, what were you thinking?"

At this, Simon blushed furiously. He was embarrassed and he became silent, dragging Clary out to his van.

"Can we stop at Tiffany's?" Clary asked, breaking the silence.

"Why Tiffany's?"

"I want to get something for Jace."

Raising his brows, Simon let out a whistle and shook his head in shock.

"That's pretty expensive Clary."

"I know." Was all she said when he stopped the van in front of the store. Clary had once owned something from Tiffany's, it was a ring with "M" engraved on it. That was the Morgenstern family ring. When Clary had issues with paying rent last year, she sold the ring at a pawn shop and she hadn't looked back since.

Now she was in the store looking for a tag that Jace can wear. Deciding to go simple, the basic silver tag ended up being one hundred and fifty dollars not counting what she was about to engrave on it.

_Three things will last forever–faith, hope, and love-the greatest of these is love_.

It was a verse from the Bible that someone had told her once. It was the verse that she wanted to give to Jace. It was an extra to engrave but it was worth it.

By the time they left, the little blue Tiffany's box made Clary giddy and excited. Simon was laughing at her; she was like a squirrel who had endless energy. Though what he didn't understand was to why Clary needed a ride from work. She had always been independent and kept to herself and Simon never questioned her.

Just as Simon opened his mouth to ask, the van door already slid open and Clary gave him a peck on the cheek with a bright yell of a thanks. Clary was already in the lobby of Jace's apartment complex and Simon banged his head on the wheel. His life was a mess and his best friend was in love. Well, she found someone, so why wasn't that enough for him? Clary had been alone for so long and Simon should have been happy for her but his own relationship was on the rocks. To be completely honest, he was jealous of their platonic relationship and he didn't understand why Isabelle and him were always fighting.

Driving away, Simon Lewis contemplated breaking up with his girlfriend of three years.

* * *

"I have a surprise for you!" Clary greeted immediately as Jace opened the door. She skipped the part where they hugged and kiss and held the Tiffany box with a gleam in her eyes.

Jace stood amused at her burst of energy.

"Don't I get a kiss first?" He teased but she only urged him to open the box.

"Happy belated Valentine's Day!" She chimed and kept from jumping up and down when Jace held up the necklace with a smile.

"You didn't have to do that, you know?" He smiled as he put it on.

"Well aren't you happy that I did though?" She retorted as she placed one hand on his chest.

"Of course."

"Did you read what I engraved?"

"Mmm, what does it say?" He held up the tag to his eyesight and saw the verse. As he flipped it around, he saw other words too.

_Forever yours, Clary. _

With that, he felt as if he always had a piece of her. Pulling her into a kiss, he muttered _te amo _in which Clary knew exactly what that was but didn't say anything. She only kissed him and held him tighter as he continued to mumbled _I love you _in several languages. All of which ended with English and the "I love you" came out.

Jace panicked a little when she didn't say it back, though as she continued to kiss him even when he said the words, he felt a sense of security. She left trails of butterfly kisses all over him and proceeded to tug against the edge of his shirt.

"Clary?" He stopped her hand and brought his other hand under her chin.

"Jace?" She breathed out and looked at him with pleading doe eyes.

"I'm in love with you." He stated with clear passion, "I am so in love with you that I feel like my heart is going to explode and when it doesn't, I know that I am in love with you. I see clearly and I feel clearly when I see you and feel you. I don't think you have any idea how much I love you because if you could see my love for you, it's everywhere and anywhere. Te iubesc."

He finally said I love you in his native tongue–Romanian–and he felt the weight lift off his shoulders when he said it the best that he could.

Clary was silent, with a few tears rolling down from her eyes, she wiped them away and whispered near his lips.

"I don't know if this is love but when I'm around you, I don't see clearly and I don't feel clearly; I only know that my heart is about to beat out of my chest and that you're my angel. I always want you and I always need you." She only gave him one last kiss on the lips before she ran out the door.

Had she really left him? After she gave him a tag that marked him as hers and hers forever? Jace was in shock, but he came out of it a minute later and ran. He couldn't just let her go like that. Maybe this was what Kaelie meant by suffocating but he didn't care because this was it. Jace Wayland fell in love and this time it was real.

If God was playing tricks on them, then Jace really did not want to play. All he wanted was to get his girl back and throw her on his bed and make sweet, slow love to her.

He saw her then, she was standing on the sidewalk–knees weak and body shaking–waiting for a taxi when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"It's okay to be afraid because I will protect you. Someone once told me not to fall in love because I might get hurt but I told them not to live because they might die. To be honest, I have been hurt and I almost did die, but that's not going to stop me from loving you. Ever." Jace whispered and she let out a sob.

"I'm sorry Jace."

"And I love you."

"I can't say it-not yet. It hurts too much and I'm so sorry." She cried into his chest and he absorbed it all in. Jace may have gotten over Kaelie but it was clear that Clary had a demon in her. If it even made sense: there was a demon inside an angel and Jace could do nothing about it but love her.

"It's okay." He kissed the top of her head and led her back up to his apartment. Placing her onto the bed, he laid down beside her and held her at the waist.

She was so weak; how could three words have this much power over her?

"I don't know why." Clary said was a rattling voice as her crying toned down.

"Yes angel?"

"I don't know why I can't say it because I do feel the same way as you Jace." She still couldn't say it and Jace only held her tighter.

"You don't have to say anything right now Clary...just let me hold you." Burying his face into her neck, the two found peace and began to drift into a deep sleep.

He knew she loved him too; she just couldn't say it and that was okay.

* * *

When Monday came, Simon had arrived into the seminar tired and quiet. This made Clary worry so she asked him,

"Hey Lewis, something wrong?"

"Just broke up with Isabelle. Nothing wrong though." He stated nonchalantly but Clary knew it was all but nonchalant.

"Simon..." She started sympathetically but he held up a hand to her.

"I don't want to talk about it." But he did, he really did. It killed him on the inside to not talk about it but he needed to breathe.

As Professor Starkweather began his lecture, Clary began to slip Simon notes.

_Do you really not want to talk about it? _She wrote and he only shook his head.

_I swear to God Simon you better tell me why or I'll ask her myself. _

With this last note, he crumbled it in his hands and got up.

"Where are you going?" She whispered but he just kept on walking until the door made a loud slam and all the heads turned. One of which was the professor's who was shooting glares at Clary.

Embarrassment was written all over her face, but it wasn't because of Starkweather but because she was being a bad friend. She pushed him until he couldn't take it anymore. Clary felt as if she should chase after him and let him talk but then again, he needed space.

The professor then cleared his throat and continued when all eyes were on him. As much as Clary hated his lectures because half of it was illegitimate, he began to speak about angels and demons.

"The seven deadly sins are as listed: lust, greed, pride, gluttony, sloth, envy, and wrath. Can anyone tell me which one is the most dangerous of all?" His eyes flashed across the room dramatically though Clary knew he was going to pick her regardless of the hands that were already in the air.

"Lust." She stated, projecting her voice throughout the room and many hands went down contemplating to why Clary had said lust.

"That is correct Ms. Morgenstern and why is that so?" He was picking on her and she knew it. Professors typically didn't even know their students' names since the classes were so large but he knew hers and that was strange.

"Lust is the desire or yearning for something in the body. Lust is typically seen as something that is sexual. When you lust after something, it changes all your plans you originally intend for yourself. Eventually you become selfish and boastful and you just keep wanting more until more isn't enough." She explained and the room became completely silent. When someone coughed, the professor raised his brows, seeming satisfied with her answer.

He continued on the seven virtues but avoided any form of contact with Clary. She felt relief rush into her body when the lecture was over. Clary rushed out to see if Simon was still there, when she didn't see her, she walked over to the door of Jace's lecture hall. While she waited, Clary heard voices bickering and shouting in the distance.

"Why can't we just talk about this?!" A woman shouted and Clary walked closer to the voices.

"There's nothing to talk about, I need a break. Doesn't distance make the heart grow fonder?" The other retorted, as Clary came closer, she saw that it was Simon and Isabelle.

"What idiot said that?"

"I did."

"Well, you want your space right Simon Lewis? Have your space, I'm done here." Isabelle stormed off angrily leaving Simon feeling drained.

Clary felt bad for eavesdropping but as soon as Isabelle came face to face with her, Clary saw that she was crying. Isabelle Lightwood was crying.

"Will you come home with me Clary? I really need a friend right now." She sobbed into Clary's shoulder and Clary only nodded.

When they were in Isabelle and Simon's apartment, Isabelle began rummaging through the pantry for alcohol.

"Don't." Clary placed her hand around Isabelle's wrist, stopping her from opening the vodka bottle.

"He's in love with you. He always has been. He's never actually loved me." Isabelle cried out and opened the bottle anyways, taking a swig. "If you asked him to marry you, he would, just like that." She snapped her fingers and took another drink.

"I can't believe I thought someone would actually love me. You have Jace, Alec has Magnus, and I used to have Simon. Why can't he just understand that he's chasing after infinity with you?! He's chasing the impossible! I'm the one who is in love with him, not you!" Isabelle spat out at Clary. It hurt Clary though; to see her hurt.

"I'm sorry Isabelle." She whispered and held her.

"I'm sorry too." Just then, Simon strolled in and found the two on the kitchen floor.

"I'm just here to get my stuff, I'm gonna stay with Jordan tonight." He announced and this made Isabelle cry harder.

"Simon Lewis! That girl loves you so much and you?! You're being a rat-a dirty rat and leaving her when she needs you. You can't just run away when you have a problem." Clary got up and yelled at him but he only shook his head, laughing humorlessly.

"You're such a hypocrite Clary! You always run away from your problems, so I guess that makes the two of us." Pushing her aside, Simon left the apartment and it was plagued with sounds of pain.

The Prince of Lust really had him this time and Clary wondered if he was ever going to come back.

"It'll be okay, trust me." Isabelle fell asleep on the floor, her body convulsing as she continued to cry.

* * *

Simon didn't sit beside Clary in the seminars anymore; he sat in the front with the whores who tried leaning in multiple times to seduce the professor. Clary rolled her eyes to how Simon was flirting with one of them. Didn't he know that he was hurting Isabelle?

Sometimes, Clary would catch him looking at her and deep inside, she felt that he wasn't completely a monster. Weeks seemed to pass by as Simon and Clary drifted apart. They were strangers now and he has new friends to be with in which the lot of them were party girls and party boys. One day, she even received a drunk video of him eating out a girl on Snapchat. It was shocking to see what he had become but maybe that's what the Prince of Lust had intended for him. All the love had been stolen and Simon was simply a shell of his former self.

Isabelle had seen the video too and her heart broke even further if that was possible. Attending her classes had been a pain for her since her thoughts veered off to the memories of her and Simon simply holding each other.

Today, Clary saw him glancing towards her and she only shook her head with a glare. He quickly turned around and pretended to pay attention to Professor Starkweather.

Clary and Jace hadn't even hung out in those weeks because Isabelle had been crying over a photo of Simon or needed someone to pick her up from the bar or had rung the doorbell repeatedly while Jace had his head between Clary's thighs. They were beginning to become frustrated and Clary decided to take this in her own hands.

"Go talk to her." Clary said after the lecture.

Simon let out a large sigh and shook his head,  
"What is there to talk about anymore with her? I have new friends now and a new lifestyle."

"Did you ever love her?" Clary asked and Simon went silent. He did. She made him so happy and he knew that this lifestyle was just a cover up for the pride he had; the pride that stopped him from telling her he wanted her back. So he lied,

"Honestly, no." It was a contradiction of the sorts and Clary only scoffed at him.

"You're breaking her heart."

"Yeah, well you broke mine several times so I think we're even." Simon admit and Clary slapped him on the cheek. He couldn't even feel the sting; he just wanted Isabelle back.

"No, we're not even. This is not about you and me because there was never a "you and me" except for the fact that we _were_ friends and now you're being an asshole. Either fix things with Isabelle and talk to her and let her get over you or never talk to me, Jace, or her ever again." Clary threatened angrily and Simon only clenched his jaw at the thought of losing both the person he loved and his best friend.

"You know what Morgenstern? We both know that we haven't talked since the day Jonathan died and your mom ran away. To be completely honest, we haven't had a real, honest talk because you built a wall and you shut me out. And yeah, I'm pretty jealous of Jace because he replaced me as your best friend. I thought that you wanted to bottle it up and wait until you told me everything because a best friend respects that but I can't ask for more. So that's okay. Also, I don't know Jace that well either; I've talked to him twice in my life so you can count on me not talking to him. Thirdly, Isabelle's not mine anymore. Tell her that I'm not worth her time because I'm not worth anyone's time." Simon spat all this out angrily and he ran out, coming face to face to Isabelle Lightwood.

"It's really not hard to hear shouting in a lecture hall when everyone's gone Simon Lewis." She whispered, the lump in her throat forming and tears threatening to fall out.

"I'm sorry."

"You're not. I am still so in love with you Simon Lewis and I'm going to let you go." She said to him and pressed one last kiss on his lips. It was one that was symbolic to letting go and leaving. As much as Simon wanted to hold on to the kiss, he couldn't…she was gone.

It started with a small problem that could be talked over but now it was catastrophe and Simon knew that this wasn't something that could be talked over anymore. He was an idiot and he knew it.

Sensing Clary's presence behind him, he clenched his jaw and saw her shaking her head at him.

"I'm disappointed in you but I guess I don't have the right to say that anymore."

In the span of ten minutes, he had lost his best friend and the girl that was in love with him. Clary walked away into the rain that began to shower and entered the Medicinal Sciences department to wait for Jace.

This left Simon alone to wallow in his own pity, but too bad no one felt pity for him; not even himself.

When a rush of students began to flood out of the lab, Clary caught onto the arm of the golden haired boy that had her heart.

"Hey angel how was your day?" Jace drawled out and kissed Clary on the cheek.

"Terrible." Jace frowned at her expression; she was tired and he read her face which said that she would explain later.

"Isabelle?" He asked and she shook her head.

"Isabelle and Simon and myself I guess. God, my head hurts." The words Simon had said to her had etched into her brain. She had been a bad friend and it sucked that it had to come down to this.

"We'll go to my apartment okay?" She only nodded and leaned into his chest.

As Jace began to rev his motorcycle, Clary jumped a little. She could never get used to the noise and she held on a bit tighter. While he was driving, Jace felt something damp at the back of his T-shirt. At first, he thought the rain had begun to pour harder but it only pooled in that one spot. Pulling into a parking spot beside his complex, he turned to Clary whose hair was all messed from the wind blowing and a tear stained face. He would have to remind himself to get another helmet but at this point, he was more concerned with her emotions.

"Hey hey hey, what's wrong?" He grazed her jawline and wiped the tears away with his thumb.

"I'm a really bad friend." Clary started and more tears flowed out. Jace pulled her into his chest and led her into the dry apartment. When they sat down on the couch, Clary began to tell him what had happened in Java Jones a few weeks ago, what had happened when Simon first stormed out of the seminar, and what had happened today. Jace was angered at both Emil and Simon for hurting his angel.

"He should have been more honest with your friendship before." Jace stated. He had to admit, he was never that great at advice, just exceedingly fantastic at beating people up.

"I should have been honest first."

"You were in pain and you didn't want to burden him."

"This actually sucks."

"Do you want me to knock some sense into him?" He joked but deep inside, he really wanted to knock Simon out into a coma so that he would forget today's events as well as the breakup and how badly he had hurt the two girls.

"Jace, I don't want you to use your fists." Clary said and leaned closer to him.

"Well, can I beat up Emil?" Jace asked in all seriousness and Clary only shook her head.

"I think we just need to call the police, I'm pretty sure I have a valid statement to claim it as stalking."

Letting out a sigh, Jace pecked Clary on the nose and lifted his lips into a smirk.

"How about we go take a shower?" He offered with a wink and for the first time in the day, she let out a giggle and nodded.

"The pressure is amazing in your shower." Clary almost moaned and Jace chuckled.

"I'm sure I'm pretty amazing too." Jace said and lifted Clary bridal style.

"That you are."

"I love you Clary."

"I know." She said smiling.

The two stripped out of their clothing and entered the shower. The only thing Jace had on was the dog tag that Clary had gotten for him. Reading off of the tag, Clary whispered,

"Forever yours." It was her way of saying "I love you" and Jace knew it.

Tilting his head, he leaned in to kiss the area between her ear and her neck. Trailing his lips to her jawline, Clary placed her hand on the lower region of Jace's body and Jace froze.

"I think it's time that we move this bedroom?" Clary suggested and stroked the "V" line on his torso.

"I think so too." Jace whispered and Clary began to feel nervous as she tried to prepare her nerves for finally giving her virginity to Jace.

"It's not going to hurt right?" She asked meekly and Jace's chuckle calmed her down.

"It's not going to hurt because I love you and I'll go slow. It's going to be a bit uncomfortable at first because look at Jace Jr., he's big and I'm proud of him." This caused Clary to erupt in laughter and it also brought her comfort. She trusted him with her body and if he could do wonders with his tongue, then Clary could only imagine what he could do with Jace Jr.

"Hey Jace?" She chimed as she stopped laughing. Clary was in the mode of seriousness and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yeah angel?"

"I think 'Forever yours' will be my 'I love you'." Biting down on her bottom lip, she waited for Jace's response, which in turn, became thousands of butterfly kisses across her neck as well as the lips. The constant mumbling of "I love you" and "Forever yours" filled the shower more than the steam of the hot water did.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'm shooting for twenty chapters for this story because there's only so much I can write unless I'm able to write more. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter so shoot me a review!

Thoughts? Simabelle is still a question mark, we shall see what happens with them.  
Yes, Clary and Jace are going to have sexy times in the next chapter.  
Yes, Emil is going to get a restraining order but it's Emil, is he really going to follow it?

Looking forward to the reviews :)

Much love,  
Ry


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter Ten_

Laying her down on his bed, Jace felt nervous to what he was about to do. The last time he had slept with a virgin was when he was first a virgin. Jace was sixteen years old and he was with Aline at the time as friends with benefits that needed to lose their virginities first. Aline cried a lot that night and it wasn't something either of them had enjoyed. Since then, Jace had sworn to himself that he would never have sex with a virgin ever again.

"Jace?" Clary chimed, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"I'm scared. I don't want to hurt you or make you cry." Jace stated blatantly. They were already both naked and the libido was there, but there was the fear.

"Jace, I'm forever yours. It'll be really good after this right?" Clary asked innocently and Jace felt more confident.

"Go into my nightstand and grab a condom." Jace commanded, doing everything he could to restrain himself from doing it without one. Leaning over to grab protection, Clary's curves began to show everywhere and Jace's breath hitched from amazement.

He quickly ripped the wrapper apart and slid it on.

"Top or bottom?" Jace asked and Clary blushed.

"I'm allowed to go on top?"

"Yeah, I guess it hurts less because you're in more control whereas if you were on the bottom and I wouldn't know if I was hurting you or not." Jace rambled. Clary found it cute that he was just as nervous as she was. Pressing her lips to his, they began arousing each other and teasing each other's skin with the dancing of finger tips.

"Are you wet?" Jace asked as he sucked on her neck.

"God yes!" Clary moaned and writhed. "You go top, I do bottom. I trust you."

He cupped her core with his hand and he began to move. As he felt her getting slicker, Jace positioned himself and filled her. Clary grit her teeth from the discomfort that had just entered. It had all felt so great and the tightening didn't help much.

"Jace...it hurts." She tried to hold her tears and tried to take calm, deep breaths but she couldn't. Tears began to leak from her tear ducts and fell onto Jace's shoulder.

"I'm pulling out, we can't do this." Jace decided but Clary frantically shook her head and pressed her hands against his back to bring them closer even though it caused further discomfort.

"I don't want you to stop Jace." She begged, "Kiss me." And he did. Jace pressed his lips against hers and moved against them softly as if he was holding glass that could shatter any second. He was shaking though and Clary could feel him grazing her collarbone as he kissed her.

Feeling more relaxed and steady, Clary wrapped her legs around Jace which caused her to moan against his lips.

"Please move faster." She stated and he began to thrust into her slowly with a hitch of his breath. As Clary kept moaning into Jace's mouth, Jace continued to move. There were moments where it was so painfully slow that Clary simply began to move against him.

Her nails began to dig into his back as a tremendous wave took over her in which Jace followed shortly after. Rolling off, Jace discarded the condom and laid beside his lover.

"I love you Clary." He smiled when she was still catching her breath.

"I know." She smiled back and placed a kiss on his lips, "But the next time we do it, we can go as fast as you want." Clary whispered which made Jace ready for a second round though he knew that Clary was jaded.

"That was one of the scariest things I've ever done in my life." Jace stated, shaking his head at his own dirty thoughts.

"Mine too."

"You don't understand how badly I wanted to pull out because you were in pain Clary. I don't usually sleep with virgins…"

"And you're not going to have to anymore because I'm not one anymore." She smiled and moved to kiss him, but the soreness down there stopped her from doing so. She let out a small hiss and bit down on her bottom lip.

"Fuck…" He cussed and became worried, "Do we need to go to the hospital?"

Now, Jace had never cared this much for Aline. He had never cared enough to ask if it hurt for her or whether he needed to pull out. At sixteen, Jace didn't really care to whether or not Aline was hurt or not. He was a selfish teenage boy that lost his parents and needed someone to take the pain away from him and replace it with physical pleasure. That night had been painful for him though and it wasn't something Jace liked to rehash.

"No, I'm just really sore. Let's go to bed." Clary said in a clipped tone that was backed up with pain.

Leaning over, Jace pecked her on the lips and covered the two with a blanket that gave comfort and warmth.

"I love you." Jace whispered as he closed his eyes, drifting into a deep sleep. Somewhere in the distance, he heard those three words being whispered back to him and it made him all the more happy. Even if it seemed to be just a dream…

* * *

She ran from him. He could not believe that she ran from him and missed his dead wife's funeral. There had to be another plan to get her to lure her to him. The only way Emil was going to get to Clarissa Morgenstern is if he killed the last son of the Wayland bloodline. It was too soon for another death on his name. He would need another excuse because deep down, in the back of his brain, there was a sane part of him that remained alive that told him he was going to get caught for his crimes sooner or later.

Valentine had been observing Emil's activities ever since he walked away from his daughter's hospital bed months ago. The death of Amatis Pangborn had been so sudden and that made him all the more suspicious. There were things that his daughter said had stuck to him.

_It might not mean anything to you dad, but it meant something to Jonathan and Jonathan wouldn't have let this happen and he would have believed me! _

So now, Valentine stood in front of Emil's glass office and observed him. He was fidgeting. He was nervous. That was not a good sign.

This was his redemption and Valentine refused to lose his last chance at making the means well with his daughter again…even if it meant to betray his right hand man that he trusted for years.

Knocking on Emil's office door, Valentine strode in with confidence and cheer that he typically showed to his best friend.

"Emil, is your week going well?" Valentine greeted and Emil immediately changed to sad eyes that were far from his worried expression earlier.

"I believe I might have to go home early tonight…the death has taken a toll on me." Emil lied through his teeth but Valentine still felt remorse for him, having lost Jonathan.

"That's quite all right. Farewell then my friend." And Valentine left the room with something biting at his heart.

That night, Valentine awoke from the nightmare he had every so often of Jonathan who always told him that he betrayed his own son. It was always the lowering of the casket and those words, "You betray me for him."

Reaching to his cellular device, Valentine scrolled to his daughter's name and finally found the courage to press call. There was no response. Maybe it was just late...maybe she didn't mean the words when she told him to stay out of her life.

If only he had Jocelyn with him, but she ran away that day. Something bad had happened and she disappeared. Lillith was all right but she didn't bring him comfort-only pleasure that wasn't fulfilling. Valentine realized that the only thing that ever filled the void of a broken family was Jonathan. He already lost his wife, and his son, could he really afford to lose his daughter too?

It was time to investigate once more and to nitpick at each every detail of Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern's death file. Calling his friend, Luke, he was able to get the file before two in the morning. It never made sense to Valentine to how his son would die from too much alcohol.

The first time he saw Jonathan have his first drink, he kept it at one and didn't drink anymore. It stayed that way for every time there were business dinners in which everyone else would get wasted and Jonathan was the only one who kept it at one.

_**Names of the deceased:**__ Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern_

_**Age**__: 20_

_**Reason for death:**__ Liver failure from alcohol_

_**Witnesses**__: Emil Pangborn_

_**Other substances found in the body:**__ Ketamine, Rohypnol, Dextropropoxyphene_

_**Time of death:**__ April 4th, 2009 3:49 AM_

Valentine remembered the call he received in the morning of that day from Emil who cried frantically about how Jonathan wasn't moving. He cried on and on about how he kept telling Jonathan to slow down on the drinks. It was something Valentine never understood, but the drugs found in his body did. They were mixtures of date rape drugs and painkillers that would lead to fatality. The report was false. Jonathan Morgenstern did not die by alcohol but by drugs. The drugs that infiltrated the one drink then had been masked by several other drinks. Under the effects of the date rape drug, Jonathan wouldn't have known what he was doing. This was murder; not an accident.

"Hi Luke, I want to reopen this case." Valentine said sternly with a lump growing in his throat.

"Valentine, you do understand that me giving that file was already a breach on my side." Luke sighed on the other end of the phone.

"I am going to beg you to reopen that case. Something is wrong. Did you see what was in his body Lucian? It wasn't just alcohol, there were drugs and specifically date rape drugs."

"We have no leads or suspects."

"The witness, look at the witness. That is one lead we have to use."

There was silence on the other end followed by a sigh,

"All right Morgenstern if you really think this will help with closure."

"Thank you Luke." Valentine said with pure gratitude and proceeded to ask, "How is she?"

"You should have believed her. She's not insane you know?"

"I'm very thankful that you're looking after Jocelyn for me." Valentine said, ignoring what Luke said about her sanity.

"You're welcome but you have to listen to her and not only Jocelyn, but your daughter too." Luke stated and then hung up.

Valentine let out a sigh and placed the file away. Lillith was gone tonight and he was lonely. Tonight was where he realized that he had cut ties with everyone who tried to love him. No one would ever understand Valentine Morgenstern but that was just who he was.

* * *

"Good morning." Jace pecked his lover on the lips in which she responded with a groan.

"Five more minutes." Clary whined and Jace chuckled, lying back on the bed.

"All right angel." He was the luckiest man on earth. This was the girl he was going to marry and he knew it. He truly knew it this time.

Snaking his arm around her waist, Jace began to tickle her and she awoke with laughter.

"Jace! Stop!" She giggled in between the words.

"Only if you give me a kiss." He teased with a smirk and she finally opened her eyes in surrender.

"Okay okay!" She laughed, pressing her lips against his.

"So, how do you feel?" Jace asked referring to her body.

"Still sore but bearable for round two. Take a bath with me?" Clary smiled against his neck and pressed butterfly kisses all over, leaving flutters all over his skin.

"You don't even have to ask Clary and I'll take you up on round two when you're not sore." Giving a wink, he carried her to the bathtub that laid beside the shower.

The water was searing and it burned her skin that had been so tender, but after awhile it was comforting. With a flick of his wrist, Jace managed to splash water all over Clary's face.

Clary, who had a look of amused shock on her face, immediately took revenge and proceeded to move closer to him. She took his lips in hers and pressed their bodies together.

"I have to finish another project tonight, come over okay?"

"You sure I won't distract you?" Jace smirked and Clary only wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"You always distract me whether you're here or not." She stated, finishing both their baths, she pulled the clog that let all the water drain away.

"I don't think we're Adonis and Aphrodite." Jace said out of nowhere when they were back in the bedroom, changing into their clothes.

"Yeah? Then what are we?" She asked curiously as she buttoned Jace's shirt on herself.

"Hades and Persephone." He stated and Clary only laughed.

"That's an interesting thought." She mused.

Hades and Persephone. It was pure love, they were two Greek gods that were loyal to each other throughout. When Persephone met Hades, she was innocent and pure and he was a lonely God in the Underworld. Hades was known as a thief though to everyone else in Mount Olympus because he stole her from the earth where she belonged. It was saddening that they couldn't be together everyday, but because of the pomegranate seed from the Underworld that Persephone had eaten, she was to stay six months in the Underworld and six months on earth. When Persephone was in the Underworld, this was autumn and winter. When she was on earth, it would be spring and summer.

"Jace, King of the Underworld." She teased and pulled him into her arms.

"And you'd be my queen."

"Who else would there be?" She laughed, "You're stuck with me for the rest of your life Jace Wayland."

"There's nothing I want more than for you to be my queen." Jace said in a whisper.

"I already am." She smiled and tugged his hand to bring him to the kitchen. They enjoyed breakfast together and said their typical "See you later" but this time adding their declarations of love.

Clary walked out with a bright smile on her face. Hailing a cab back to her apartment, she felt her cell phone buzzing against her jeans.

"Hello?" She answered cheerfully. Nothing could break the joy she felt right now.

"Hello Clarissa." It was her dad. Apparently, there was something that could ruin her happiness.

"Oh hi dad..." It felt strange to call him dad after the incident that occurred last time.

"I need to speak with you privately, perhaps we can meet up."

"I'm not sure what there is to talk about anymore." Clary said in pure honesty; it came out bitter but she didn't care just like how he didn't care about her.

"You're my only child left." He stated and she rolled her eyes as she entered the cab.

"And he finally realizes." She drawled out sarcastically.

"Do not use that spitfire tongue of yours on me. What I'm saying is that I'm willing to listen to your side of the story with Emil. You see, I'm opening up Jonathan's case again." Valentine explained and Clary was left with silence on her part. She had been so busy being happy that she forgot about her deceased brother. All he ever wanted was for her to be happy though.

"W-why?" She sputtered out, tongue tied.

"We must speak about this in private, I will be coming over tonight Clarissa. Cancel all your other plans." And he hung up in the clear Valentine way. Never a good bye or an I love you. That was the way he was and Clary learned that at a young age.

There had to be a reason to why Jonathan's case was getting opened again. Something was up and someone was about to burn. Clary had only been 15 then, and his death was a week before her birthday. In that month of April, there were no celebrations and no parties and certainly no brother. There was mourning and crying.

On her sixteenth birthday, she remembered going into his old room and slept on his bed for an entire day. No one in the Morgenstern household had bought a cake or presents, but Clary didn't need any of that anyways; she just needed her brother back. Valentine had scolded her when he found that Jonathan's door was opened.

The ride back to her apartment was full of questions to what Valentine could have been doing. What was there to investigate? The death had been an accident.

Throwing a bill at the taxi driver, Clary walked out and found a familiar figure standing outside her complex.

"Simon? What are you doing here?" Clary asked perplexed. He looked terrible; hair frazzled more than usual and facial hair that was unshaven.

"I fucked up." Was all he said before he shrugged.

"Why did you do that to her?"

"They say distance makes the heart grow fonder right? Well I felt suffocated from all the fights we were having and I gave up on her when she kept fighting for me." He sounded pained but Clary didn't know if she should feel sorry for him.

"I'm not sure what you want me to do Simon."

"Please just tell her that I am truly sorry and that I'll do everything to get her back because I do love her. And fights are nothing compared to this void that I'm feeling in my heart."

"You need to talk to her–" Clary began but was cut off by Simon screaming.

"I can't! She won't see me! Her brother already told me to stay away and I can't get around him!"

"You hurt her really badly Simon. She's still in love with you and that's why it still hurts." Clary said and pushed him aside to walk into her apartment.

"Can we still be friends Morgenstern?"

"I don't know Simon, I don't know." And she left, walking up the flights of stairs and entered her apartment with a huff.

The only thing that was truly clear right now was Jace. Every other thing and person just felt blurry to her.

Pulling up a new canvas, she painted Persephone holding Hades' hands at the Charon's ferry in desperation to let her go back to the six months on earth. It was a contrast of light and dark as well as a promise to be back. It was an example to how distance made the two better gods because it helped their love grow. If only it could be the same for Simon and Isabelle.

Clary painted for the remainder of the day before her doorbell rang, revealing Jace holding another bouquet of flowers.

"What are the flowers for?" She asked with a smile.

"No reason." He pecked her on the lips and entered her apartment. "I need to spoil my queen don't I?"

"Jace..."

"Yeah?"

"My dad's coming over today." She admit and his face contorted into anger and confusion.

"You mean the man that left you in the hospital and slapped you?" Jace spat as if something foul had entered his mouth.

"Yeah, my dad." Was all Clary could say because Jace was angry and so there wasn't much she could say to calm him down.

"Why is he coming over? Is he going to finally care about you?"

"It has to do with Jonathan so leave it Jace." Clary said, closing her eyes calmly.

"Fine, but I'm staying." Jace said sternly.

"No you will not." A new voice entered the conversation from the open door of the apartment.

"Dad, Jace will leave." Clary said tired and Jace immediately stood to defend his position.

"No I will not." Jace stated and Valentine only crossed his arms.

"You really are a Wayland." Valentine rolled his eyes and groaned, "Always so stubborn."

At this, Jace shut his mouth and Valentine shut the door. Valentine strode in and sat down on the couch in which Clary and Jace followed.

"Well to get on with business, I'm opening Jonathan's case again. And before you ask why, read the file." He handed her the file and as she read it, she stopped at the names of the drugs. furrowing her eyebrows, she asked what they were.

"Two of them are date rape drugs and the last one is a painkiller that is only used if there is severe pain. All of these combined would result in death." Jace stated in which Clary let out a gasp.

"This...this wasn't an accident was it?" Clary asked her father who only shook his head, clenching his eyes in pain.

"Murder. I am going to find the person who murdered him. And you, Wayland. You're going to look at your parents' file." Valentine ordered and Jace didn't understand how he suddenly had a part in this.

"I can't just get it, it's out of my reach." Jace said exasperated, but Valentine immediately reached into his briefcase and pulled out the file labelled, "The Wayland Fire". The name had bad memories for Jace. He was only in history class then when he was pulled out of class to be alerted that his house had burned down, his parents died, and that he now owned every piece of property his parents bought.

"Read it, you'll find something interesting."

_**Names of the deceased:**__ Michael Wayland, Celine Wayland_

_**Age**__: 42, 40_

_**Reason for death:**__ House fire; propane gas and open stove_

_**Witnesses**__: Madeleine Bellefleur; neighbour_

_**Other substances found in the body:**__ Ketamine _

_**Time of death:**__ April 4th, 2007 1:48PM_

"How did you find this?" Jace asked, staring at the drug that appeared in both files.

"A night of research and an old friend." Valentine simply said and Jace shook his head.

"Is this really related? Could the person who killed Jonathan, killed my parents too?" Jace questioned and Valentine only shrugged.

"I need to talk to my daughter about what happened that night with Emil at my business dinner, so Mr. Wayland, I suggest that you leave us for five minutes." Valentine demanded in a cool, civil tone and Jace only crossed his arms.

"No, I stay with her."

"Then you're about to hear gruesome talk about our family because nothing is clean in the house of Morgenstern." Valentine warned and Jace only leaned into him to challenge.

"I've been through my own hell and your daughter was the one who pulled me back from it."

Flickering his attention back to Clary, Valentine avoided Jace's last statement and began his interrogation.

"What did he do?" Valentine was blunt; he didn't need any terms of endearment or details

"He kissed me, I pushed him away and he put this cloth over my mouth and I fainted." Clary said, not wanting to go into details because she knew that her father wouldn't want details. She knew that he only wanted to give his son the justice he deserved and Clary was okay with that.

"He kissed you?" Valentine repeated, this time with his fists clenched and knuckles turning white. It made him question how much he could trust Emil or whether or not Emil had abused the trust.

"Roughly if you really want to know dad."

Jace only sat there, watching Valentine's eyes as they unfolded from blindness. He leaned over and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's waist.

_Roughly if you really want to know dad. _The words flooded Valentine's head as if they held poison; it reminded him of the fight with Jocelyn before she ran away.

_Roughly if you really want to know Valentine. _She told him that Emil raped her that day and Valentine only accused her of being insane and told her that she probably seduced him. He called her a whore of all words to pick and she ran into the arms of Lucian Graymark. Valentine knew he deserved it though, Luke was always close to her and Valentine was always cold towards the Morgenstern women.

After a moment of registering his thoughts, Valentine spoke,

"There's something you need to know about your mother Clarissa."

"She ran away, what more is there?" Clary said tiredly, she really did not want to hear, but the next few words that came out made Clary feel guilty for hating her mother for so long.

"Jocelyn told me Emil raped her and I didn't believe her. I called her a whore. She left."

"You have a terrible habit of not believing people when they need you the most dad. I guess we should give you the trophy for Father of the Year." Her eyes were now brimming with tears and something inside Valentine cracked. He wasn't sure if it was his heart that had been so stone cold for so long because he felt guilty for not being a father to her.

All Valentine could really say was,

"I'm sorry." There, he said it. Valentine had never once apologized in his life to any of his family and this was the first.

"I'm sorry too." Clary said back but it was not the type where Clary was sorry but it was where she felt sorry for him for only regretting it right now.

"You're my only child left and I can't lose you too." It was his heart; not the one that had been replaced with stone but the one that was beating and made of flesh. Valentine leaned in and wrapped his arms around his daughter as she shook with tears.

A hug. He hadn't had one in so long that he didn't mind that her tears were staining his suit. For the first time in forever, he felt like a father. It was a good first step and Valentine took pride in that.

It was at this moment that Jace wished he had mended bonds with parents before they died. They had told him to wear a jacket that day because it was chilly but he ignored them and pushed his mother away when she gave him a kiss. He longed for that kiss now. His father had told Jace that he loved him and Jace only rolled his eyes, going to school without thought that his parents were to be murdered.

It was then Jace realized that life was not a joke and it was something to be taken seriously. After the events that transpired, he held everyone dear to his heart–those that he loved at least.

When Clary released herself from Valentine's hold, she buried her face into Jace's neck.

"So what now?" Jace asked Valentine.

"I'm going to find evidence against Emil. I can't believe I'm saying this but my best friend betrayed me." Valentine stated and Jace scoffed, thinking about Sebastian.

"Yeah, it sucks."

"Boy, you don't realize what happened the week before the fire. Your father and Emil got into a fight that almost turned physical when Michael pulled his investments from Emil. That is one connection and you do not even understand how powerful he actually is. He just isn't as powerful as me. I've just been blinded for so long because he misused my trust but not anymore."

"What are you going to do?" Jace asked as Clary turned her neck to face her father.

"Pull the rug from under him but in order to do that, I need to pretend to be a friend to him. You two are in danger because one, Clary is my child, and two, you are Michael's child. He will want you both for something, we just don't know what yet." Valentine explained his plan of hidden cameras all around the office as well as hidden security guards for both of them when they were at school, work, or home.

"Do not forget that everything is connected, if you see people follow you, it's just for your safety." Valentine warned and Jace decided to be brash and ask,

"So what if we're having sex and they suddenly intrude?" Valentine's eyes widened and Clary's sniffles stopped and she turned a bright red.

"Pardon me, I think I heard wrong."

"I think you heard me pretty clearly Mr. Morgenstern. See, your daughter's staying with me for the rest of her life anyways so yeah, of course I need to ask about our sex life." Jace grinned at his words and Valentine only turned to look at his daughter.

"Oh God Jace!" Clary moaned in embarrassment and pulled away from him to bury her face in her hands.

"I think it is best I leave now before I listen anymore to how you deflowered my child."

"I was on top, just to let you know." Jace teased her father who immediately picked up his briefcase.

"Jace!" Clary yelled and he only chuckled at her outburst.

"I'll be in contact Clarissa and dear God, please do tell me you can tame that boy's mouth." Valentine gave her a short, awkward hug and parted with those words.

"Jace!" Clary pouted and he only leaned down to give a kiss.

"Your dad's pretty fun to tease."

Groaning, Clary went off to make dinner for the two of them as he began telling her pick up lines in order to break away from the silent treatment she gave.

She was glad though, she had tied off the severed bond with her father. All she had left was her mother and Clary had no idea how to even find her. Clary had a boy that loved her and loved to tease her and her father. She had a few good friends left. There wasn't much else she could ask for besides wanting her professor to take a chill pill and for Emil Pangborn to be behind iron bars.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'm approximately one to two days late with my update but I had to finish a business plan. It was toilsome. Send me your thoughts on this chapter and it was interesting to see what songs you guys listened to while reading this story. So tell me in the review what song you listen to during this chapter! I love reading them! And as you can see: lemonade not full blown lemon haha.

With love,  
Ry


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